


Seven Days - Dom's Turn

by whimsicalmuse



Category: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Angst, Humor, M/M, Post-Filming Lord of the Rings (Movies), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 21:07:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7729780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicalmuse/pseuds/whimsicalmuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Companion Piece to Seven Days-aka Yellow Notebook Paper.</p><p>Dom writes Billy a letter, then must wait for his repsonse.</p><p>Rating to be safe, and will not apply to all chapters.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Monday

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Shirasade: this story was originally archived at the [Monaboyd.net Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Monaboyd.net), which was closed in September 2014 due to software issues and a lack of new submissions for several years. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in October 2014. I e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Monaboyd.net Archive collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Monaboyd_Archive/profile).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: This story is a companion to the wildly popular *snort* Seven Days Aka Yellow Notebook Paper . I don't have a beta yet, I have had offers, but been too busy to gather someone to do the deed. I'm from the US, and have not mastered the finer points of UK linguistic mannerisms. Without much ado...

 

Monday

1: 00 am (New York time)

Dominic stares at the confirmation notice on the computer screen, biting his lip thoughtfully. It is done then, he can sleep now. He pulls himself away from the computer and sighs. He hates being in the city, he does really, but he had to follow Hans here to make his story believable.

Hans, now there’s a good mate for you. He doesn’t know many blokes that would be willing to pose as a lover for the sake of a pathetic guy from Manchester’s last ditch effort to finally tame the Scot.

Dominic smiles despite himself. Billy would probably bristle at the thought of being tamed.

Billy.

Always his thoughts lead him in a circle back to William Boyd. He sighs irritably. Thought we were going to cut him loose and wait for him to come back to us Dommie. What happened?

Elijah, that’s that happened. Elijah with his silly American lilt and fairy-boy words of love and losing “The One” if he didn’t act now. The kid sounded like a horrible gay infomercial.

Dominic gulps down the last of the tea, (his mother would have flicked a biscuit right between the eyes for such a horrible display of manners) and with a delicious stretch, stumbles back to bed.

He won’t sit up until dawn thinking about Billy again. He just won’t.

So he doesn’t.

8:30

Dominic can’t believe he actually managed to sleep the whole night through. He wishes he could say he feels refreshed, but he doesn’t. He feels stale, like a piece of paper that has been folded and unfolded too many times. He wonders, speaking of paper, if Billy has read the letter. He wonders if Billy will know what he wants from the letter.

8:45

Upon consideration, Dominic decides he should be a bit worried. He wonders if Billy will even know what the hell the letter means. The wanker should know. He should recognize the connection to the song. He was the musical one. Always strumming that damn guitar lazily, sitting on the bed cross-legged and looking sexy as hell in a pair of low rise jeans and a dark green button up shirt, humming in a low pitch that was just deep enough to tug at Dom’s belly.

Right let’s just squash that train of thought shall we?

9:30

Dominic starts to worry a bit more, if that was even possible. He at least expected an irate phone call from Billy, asking him what the hell he was trying to do, sending him a silly letter with two words.

9:49

Maybe he called his mobile and left a message. Not that he’s gonna call and check, ‘cause he wont.

10:30

Dominic can’t believe that wanker didn’t call to complain about the letter. Maybe he left a message at his place in LA. Not that he’s going to call and see ‘cause he…oh bloody hell…

10:57

Ok, he definitely is a wanker. If Dominic received a letter like that he would have called at once to demand an explanation. Then again, Dominic isn’t half as daft as Billy is.

12:17

Dominic feels much more alive now that he has eaten and showered. He doesn’t know what he will do with himself now, since Hans is at a photo shoot. He wishes Elijah was here, but he won’t dare call him. He’s still more than just a bit pissed at him for starting this mess in the first place. Dominic was perfectly content to wallow in his misery and waste away thank you very much. Not that Billy is worth it, ‘cause he isn’t. Right.

1:23

Perhaps he should call Orlando. Or Astin. Yes, have a jolly chat with a hobbit. That always cheers him up. Yes, Dom will call Sean…

“Hello?”

“Astin!”

“Smelly Belly, how are you?”

Dommie can’t help but wince. Billy called him that. He mentally bitch slaps himself for being a sap.

“I’m great, here in New York with a friend, tearing up the city. How about yourself?”

It’s a damn lie, and he knows it. So long as Astin doesn’t figure it out, then we’re all good.

“I’m good. Been busy been traveling around a lot. Making movies, running for president, saving the world. You know typical Sam stuff.”

That’s a damn lie too. Dommie bets Sean is in his boxers, beer in hand, screening his calls. Ok, maybe not quite that pathetic, but he knows the man’s got to be wound up. After all, Elijah might call, and Dom knows Sean won’t know what to do if he calls. Still, a man’s gotta take his punches in private.

“Good to hear mate.”

There is a pregnant silence for several moments thereafter. Dominic spends it vowing not to ask Sean if he’s heard from Billy. He won’t do it. He won’t. He won’t- oh bloody hell-

“Heard from Billy lately?”

That was surprising. Dominic was sure he would be the one. No matter though.

“No, I haven’t. I’m sure he’s been busy. I hear things with his girlfriend are turning serious.”

“Shouldn’t he have asked her to marry him by now? They have been together for at least what. 3 years now?”

Fuck you Sean Astin.

“Not sure, I don’t really keep tabs on that sort of thing. Speaking of wives how’s Christine?”

Dominic uses every ounce of self restraint not to get up a do a wild victory dance.

“She’s great. Thinking about having another baby actually. We’ve been going to therapy and counseling. It’s worked wonders actually.”

Dominic feels his smug grin fall off his face. So much for enjoying the conversation with the hobbit. For one thing, Dom hates thinking about Sean trying his hardest to save a marriage glued together by a lie. A big fat lie. No amount of therapy will ever fix the fact the Sean Astin is in love with two people, and, (in Dom’s opinion) chose the wrong one.

“Good to hear. I wish you the best.”

And Dom means it, he does. Even if he knows Elijah is out there somewhere miserable. Because well, ya. It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it? Sean has a family.

“How about you Dommie? You seeing someone?”

And so the can of worms is opened.

Twenty minutes later, Dominic hangs up the phone, feeling a wee bit like a liar, and skirts around the purple Oliphant that is sitting in the middle of the room, wearing a kilt and holding a pair of wedding bands. He won’t think about Billy Boyd or his sodding girlfriend. He won’t. He won’t close his eyes and see Billy dressed in his finest, clasping her hands in some quaint church in Scotland.

He. Won’t. Do. It.

4:30

Dominic is rather glad Hans got home early. It gives him someone to listen to. It keeps him distracted from his paralyzing fear that Billy hasn’t called because he doesn’t care. He hasn’t called because he’s moved on, and is preparing to propose to her any second now. Dominic looks at the clock. 4:38. For all he knows, Billy could be having sex with her now. He hopes not. The thought makes him so upset he fears he will be violently ill all over the expensive carpet. He’s only half aware of the trembling hand when he gulps down a glass of water. He hopes Hans didn’t notice.

5:49

Of course Hans didn’t notice. Then again, he isn’t the brightest bloke he’s ever met. He did ask Dom if he was having women troubles, which makes no damn sense really, ‘cause why would a guy pose with a bloke if he’s trying to get a girl back? Then again, maybe ole Hans is smarter than he lets on. He did get Dom to fess up and tell Hans the whole story.

It is dimly comforting when the German places a gigantic hand on his shoulder and assures him that the wee Scot would be running back to him by Friday at the latest.

Dominic can’t stop the hot tears from falling anymore than he could stop the words, “God I hope so,” from falling from his lips.

Hans does what any other German would in such circumstances; he takes him out for a beer.

6:57  
“So tell me about your Billy Dominic. If I’m going to see him in a day or two, I’d like to know what he is like.”

Dominic takes a big sip, and concentrates for a moment. Speaking German isn’t as easy when you’re galloping towards a state of pissy drunkenness.

“He’s, well, he’s…” Dominic searches to find a word…”He’s intense.”

“Intense?”

“Yes, take his eyes for example. They are green man, green. And whenever we go out, birds will end up being sucked in, like a deer in the headlights. Some blokes feel it too. Before we were together, it would drive me bloody crazy with jealousy. To make matters worse he had no clue.”

Dominic laughs despite himself. The man rarely had a clue about those things. Take for example, how long it took Billy to realize Dom was all but throwing himself at him.

Dominic remembers the many hours they would spend just hanging out together. One always said their name as one word back then, BillyandDom, because where there was one, the other was sure to be near.

Not that, Dominic had an ulterior motive or anything.

“Anyhow, we’d have moments when we’d be talking about nothing in particular, and turn to face each other, and go silent for no apparent reason. It was never an awkward silence, it was just, we would look at each other, and find we didn’t really need to talk ya know?”

“Ja.”

“So one day, I’m blabbering away bout some shit Elijah did in the club, that drove Sean batshit, and I turn to laugh with him, and he’s got his head thrown back, mouth wide open, laughing. And I just stare at him, ya know, watching him laugh, and this funny squishy feeling starts moving in my chest, and all I can think is, “I made him laugh like that.” And knowing I made him laugh makes me feel happy as hell. Like, I dunno, like I did something no one else can. And as he stops laughing, he looks me in the eye, and all of the sudden, I can’t talk anymore. I’ve been stuck dumb. And he stops laughing. And all I can think of is how intense his bright eyes are, and then I knew it. Somehow, over the course of the months, my crush has morphed into something very serious.”

“So what happened then?”

“Nothing,” Dominic lets out a hefty sigh. “As soon as the moment happened, it passed, and he didn’t exactly seem keen on the idea of talking about it.

“But obviously, he must have wanted to talk about it at one point didn’t he?”

Dominic smiles again, and takes a big swig from his Stein.

“He didn’t exactly talk he carried me out of a pub over his shoulder.”

Hans laughs so hard, Dominic could swear he saw beer come out of his nose.

“It was rather hilarious actually. I made some comment about him sweeping me off my feet, and the next thing I know, he’s shooing me out of the booth, and hauling me over his frail ass shoulder. Little bugger is stronger than I thought. He managed to get down one whole block before he had to put me down, and collect himself.”

Now Dominic is laughing with Hans.

“What did you do?’

“I looked at him like he was nutters, what do you think? He leaned up against the wall, catching his breath, and choking out his explanation for carrying me. He told me he wanted to show me he really could sweep me off my feet.”

And suddenly, Dom’s smile has faded, and he falls silent. Hans doesn’t press him to continue, and Dominic is glad, because he isn’t sure he could tell him the rest, not without making an ass of himself.

Dominic remembers the elation of finally knowing that Billy was attracted to him. Granted, Billy didn’t say he was in love with him, but still, his gesture was promising. At least now Dom wouldn’t be as worried that Billy would belt him if he kissed him. So he did.

It was the smartest thing Dominic has ever done in his whole life.

If he closes his eyes, he can still feel him. He can still remember the small slick slide of Billy’s tongue, and his cold nimble fingers curling into Dom’s hair. Dominic can still feel the rough denim from the waist of Billy’s jeans, and the pleasant feeling of Billy’s arousal pressed into his hip. No sooner had the kiss began then was it over, and Dominic knows he cried out. He would have been very displeased had Billy not made his intentions known.

“Let’s go home Dommie. I’m not keen on giving Wellington a free show.”

And it was as simple as that. Billy took his hand gently, hailed a cab, and moments later they were at Billy’s place (because it was closer). Once inside his house, Dominic was surprisingly shy, perhaps because he was battling his heart’s cries for this not to be just about casual sex. If he wants casual, his mind replied, then we’ll take it. We’ll take whatever we can get from Billy.

Dominic needn’t have worried. Even if Billy never said it, Dominic felt loved when Billy touched him. How could he not, when Billy’s eyes would go all liquid and flinty when he touched him. Billy didn’t talk much, just kept whispering, “beautiful” in between kisses, and gentle caresses. Dominic didn’t think he’d ever been touched like that before, not by a man or a woman.

Dominic wished it lasted long, but it didn’t. Probably because both men had waited too long to consummate all those intense moments of silence. All Dominic knows is that when Billy told him he loved him with a whispergrowlthrust, Dominic nearly lost it right then and there.

“Dom.”

“Yea, mate?”

“Let’s get you home.”

Dominic doesn’t really remember straying off, but he’s both relieved and annoyed that Hans roused him. Things are much more pleasant in dreams.

9:14

“You sure you will be alright? You could crash on my couch if you want.”

Dominic motions to wave a hand, and finds that this feat requires much more concentration then he would have though possible.

How much beer did he have?

“You don’t remember taking the shots?”

“What shots?”

Dominic leans on a lavish side table and worries his eyebrows.

“After you told me about your fist kiss, you started to look gloomy. I suggested you have something to eat, and you clapped you hands together and ordered a round a drinks. I got up to piss and when I came back you were dozing off, and had downed at least, 4 shots of cuervo. Dunno why you would drink that shit anyway.”

Dominic’s mouth waters warningly, but he’s pleased to discover nothing comes up. Hans must have fed him somewhere along the lines.

“Well, no worries now, I’m going to crash, and I’ll be alright. Goodnight mate.”

Hans has the decency to look at him worriedly, but he does leave the Englishman alone.

Dominic is torn between rejoicing in his departure, and begging for him to come back.


	2. Monday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Companion Piece to Seven Days-aka Yellow Notebook Paper.

Part Two: Tuesday

6:45 am

Sometimes the silence was the worst part. Well, it wasn’t really silence so much as it was a suffocating lack of noise. It’s the kind of silence that makes noise, only the noise was so soft that his ears would normally filter it out, choosing to listen to the telly, the traffic outside, or whatever else was louder. But that morning, all Dom had was the noisy silence. The noisy hum that started out soft, and as Dom bent an ear to it, seemed to grow louder, so loud was like the roar of the ocean. In that silence, he couldn’t hear anything else, not the squeaking wheels of the room service cart in the hallway, not the muffed slam of a door down the hall, nor, the sharp horn of a taxi far down below on Park Avenue.

And yet, he could hear some things in this noisy silence. He could hear the wet slap of his eyelids with every blink. He could hear the soft crinkle of his lashes when he rubbed his eyes, and he could hear the squish of his belly, as he gulped his tepid tea.

What was most disturbing about the silence that was noisy, the part that made the silence the worst part, is how it allowed Dom’s mind to wander. Wandering minds were a slippery slope to hell.

The silence muted the noises of the city, as Dom walked across the room, pulled back the curtains and watched as the sun began to pour over the city like chocolate syrup, and drench it in pale yellow light

Dominic’s first thought was of course, of how different the sun looked compared to the other places of the world where he had watched dawn.

In New Zealand the sun looked purple at first. Well, lavender to be exact. The sun seemed to soak up the colors of the mountains, and as the first rays yawned over the peaks, Dom would comment “Funny, the sun looks so strange purple.”

The moment would only last long enough for Dom to ponder this, and then the sun would be back to the normal pale yellow. Dom remembers he never put much stock into watching sunrises.

Then he met Billy.

Dom remembers Elijah talking to the behind the scenes crew about watching New Zealand sunrises. He said he was forced into watching them because of their schedule. That wasn’t true. Billy made them watch it he was always more connected to those kinds of things. He was more centered than most and much more serious when he first joined the fellowship. He said his connection was because he lived in Scotland.

“Scotland is far too beautiful a place to live and not learn to appreciate nature Dommie.”

Dominic remembers turning to face the Scot and smiling.

“That’s because everything is so green.” Like your eyes, he thought, but never vocalized this.

“Aye, but there’s more to it than that. Parts of Scotland seem untouched, and it’s breathtaking. You can go to the highlands, and sit back and watch the clouds roll in, and you feel like your walking in a field of heaven for a moment there.”

Dominic’s gaze never left Billy’s face as the man talked. He worried he would reveal just how touched he was if he opened his mouth. Billy misunderstood his expression.

“Ach, listen to me. Going on like a poet. I’m not Shakespeare I’ll tell you that.” He remarked with a laugh then took a sip of his tea. Dom remembers noticing how pale his fingers looked, even against the Styrofoam. He had to fight the urge to kiss each little flushed tip that had wrapped around the cup.

Dominic never replied to Billy, he just tore his eyes away from Bill’s pink fingertips, and finished watching the sunrise.

An exceptionally loud horn and the crunch of metal tore Dom from his memory. He looked down to see an irate taxi driver and a businessman involved in a hot debate on the side of the road. The passengers of the taxi were huddled together, looking at the scene in a mixture of anger and fear.

Dom bet the family didn’t think their day would begin like that. He knew the feeling. He looked at the horizon to find the city’s sunlight bath was continuing. Now, as the baby blue shadows recede, and the bright yellow reflected off the glass, he was reminded of Mexico. Mexico was like sunlight on glass, blinding, and painful and hot.

He remembers when Billy called him, and asked him and the boys to join him. Things between them were slowly unraveling, Dom knew this, but he still couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it. Denial ain’t just a river, well, in Dom’s case the river was the size of an ocean, and a couple of continents. Still, Dom was happy when his friend called and invited him, and in the same moment, sliced a gap between them when he said, “I invited the hobbits and Bloom too.”

“Oh. That’s cool.” Dom remembers cringing at his use of the term so frequently used in LA.

“Is your girlfriend going to be there?”

Dom swore he heard Billy shift uncomfortably but it could have been wishful thinking. Still, whenever he got a chance to bring her up, Dominic took it. He was, after all, supposed to be “cool” with their “mutual” decision to end things when they left New Zealand.

Because everyone knew long distance relationships never work. Dominic snorted.

“Um, no she can’t. She has taken too much time off of work as it is.”

Dominic did a mental victory dance, but just grunted with mock disappointment.

“That’s too bad mate. I’m sure you’re missing her.” Not like you’re missing me I hope, he thought, as he dug in his drawer for socks. Elijah would be walking in the door any moment, bellowing for him move his arse. Only, he said “arse” wrong.

“Well sure, but I’ll be going home soon.” Dom was so wrapped up in his thought, Billy’s voice startled him. Going home soon. To her.

“Well, I’ve got to run mate, I’ll see you in a few weeks yea?”

“Sure thing. Cheers, Dommie.”

Dominic remembers staring at the phone for a few good seconds, before Elijah’s “Dom, move your ass!” broke the silence.

A few weeks later he did indeed see Billy, and it took every ounce of restraint not to bounce like a little kid on the plane. The hobbits and Orli were polite enough not to comment on his wound up state.

“Hey, you all made it! Good to see you!”

Dominic felt strange hugging Billy. He perhaps expected Billy to be cold and withdrawn. He did notice that Billy couldn’t look into his eyes for very long, and in a sick sad way, that brought him some satisfaction.

Hours later, they were exhausted after a day on the beach and too much beer, so they all turned in early. He remembers lying in the guest room with Orli, who slept like a bear. Except he didn’t snore. He was too pretty to snore. Billy had sagely given Sean and Elijah the same room to share, perhaps knowing that he would only set them up for disaster if he didn’t, and Dom really wasn’t up for finding them in some uncomfortable corner of the house, rubbing the paint off the walls or leaving forensic stains all over.

That was just gross.

He tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, sighing against the insufferable heat and dampness of the country. This was far worse than California. His tank top was clinging to him and when he shifted, salty trails of sweat fell down his back, gently, like snowflakes. He wouldn’t get up. He would ignore the throbbing erection that was trying to impersonate Hulk Hogan in his shorts. He would not remember the fire he saw in Billy’s eyes when he told him “sleep well.” He would forget how he licked his lips, and took a deep swig of the beer, and that damned shiny bit of amber liquid that settled on his babyish bottom lip.

He groaned, and got up, under the pretense that he was going to piss. Yea, piss, he had to piss, all that beer, and the water, was sitting in his bladder, and that’s why he had to piss.

Problem was, after pissing, his erection seemed to get more insistent, probably because of the cold air that was trapped in the bathroom. Whoever said taking a cold shower was good to help with extreme horniness was obviously not a man.

Dominic left the bathroom, looked at the door to his room, and back to the direction of Billy’s room, and to his surprise, found Billy standing there.

He wondered how far he’d have to walk before Billy would meet him.

Billy met him halfway down the hallway.

He must have heard Dom come out of the room, and decided to wait for him while he was in the bathroom. He didn’t have to wait long. Dom closed the door behind him softly, and fought the urge to squirm under Billy’s gaze. He never knew how to act when Billy acted like this, intense, a bit dark, and unwavering in his attention. Despite Dom’s many antics to get Billy’s undivided attention, once he had it, he found it both erotic and disconcerting at the same time.

“Dom-“

Billy’s whisper was barely heard in the darkness.

A moist feeling settled against his shorts, as he pushed Billy down onto the bed. Dominic didn’t want to talk, because Billy’s eyes said enough. His eyes were sad, and full of regret, and Dominic didn’t want any regrets. Not having him, now, that would be something he regretted.

He yanked the smaller man’s shorts off roughly, a bit surprised at the growl that was in the back of his throat. Billy held up a hand to shush him, and Dominic wrapped his lips around two of his fingers, and made sure the Scot would remember what his tongue was capable of doing.

He did, after all, have an oral fixation.

He looked up at Billy, supremely pleased at the sight of what he could do to him still, and hummed with pleasure as he saw Billy shove a fist in his mouth to silence the soft noises he was making. Dominic took Billy with all he had, enveloped him completely with his mouth, and a few short moments later, Billy emptied himself deep in his throat.

 

Dominic was now harder than ever, but for some reason, now that he had driven Billy over the edge, he felt the masochistic urge to walk away from Billy and leave him.

Let Billy remember what he is missing.

Too bad Dominic was never very good at resisting Billy. Before he could even begin to leave, Bill pulled him down, and their tongues were locked in battle.

Hours later they were exhausted, sated, and sticking to each other.

Looking back, Dominic thinks he can blame the heat. The heat was responsible for his snatching up Billy in the kitchen and pounding into him like some deranged man. The heat made him lick the tender bruise he had caused when he slammed the smaller man against the sharp edge of the counter, his eyes flickering between the guys outside, zipping up their wetsuits and calling for them to hurry up, and the smoldering green openness of Billy’s eyes, as he drove him over the edge. It was the heat that tore him open and exposed him the last night he stayed there, breaking the silent rule he had made with himself.

He wasn’t going to cry for Billy. But he did.

The heat must have burned away all his common sense and left him with nothing but bruised nerves and primal instincts and with nothing but a brain stem to control his actions, Dom was left to face his most persistent need: he couldn’t be without Billy, and he was slowly dying in his absence.

Fueled by this instinct, he told Billy, in his own fashion. Well, he begged Billy to come home to him, but still, he made his desires known. He had addressed the purple Oliphant.

Billy pretended he didn’t hear him. That hurt almost as much as the separation. Dominic had expected Bill to deny everything. That was part of the problem. Dominic didn’t know why this new Billy had appeared but he had seen glimpses of him before. Except before, Denial Billy was out on the pull, trying to lure some bird home, and at that time, Dominic didn’t care.

Not really.

Dominic always fancied that Billy took girls home to escape his mounting frustration over not being with Dom. It might not have been the truth, but it worked to preserve Dom’s sanity. Then again, Dominic also fancied that Billy would appear on his doorstep after they parted in New Zealand, and tell Dom he had made a mistake and wanted to be with him forever. It of course, hadn’t happened; at least not by the time Dominic had received the phone call from Billy, asking him to visit him in Mexico.

Dominic spent most of that night thinking about this, wondering why Billy didn’t want to fight for them, why he found it so easy to let go and pretend. Because Dominic could never pretend.

He never would.

The next morning was heart wrenching, and though he didn’t know it at the time, he would face harder goodbyes with Billy. All he knew at the time was that Billy had failed him. He hadn’t made a grand gesture in which he announced he would be coming home to Dominic, propriety be damned. Dominic saw the failure in Billy’s eyes, and posture. His slumped shoulders and pocketed hands were enough for Dom to know that Billy couldn’t do it. Dominic was both furious and crushed.

He cried silently all the way back to LA. The guys were polite enough to leave him alone.

Dominic pulled himself out of his reverie again, startled by the sight of Orlando closing the door behind him.

“How did you…”

“Stop crying and put some clothes on. We are going out.”

11:15 am

Dominic was pissed. Yes, pissed is the world. He was pissed at Orlando for coming all the way from LA to New York, to “stop you from moping about like a love sick tosser.”

Yes, he was pissed.

He was pissed that Orlando had even managed to get in the room in the first place, but not surprised.

With a face like that, who could deny him anything?

Dominic turned to face the golden Englishman and deliver a patented scowl.

“What are you doing here?”

Orlando gave him a sidelong glance, and rolled his eyes. He took a long drag from his ciggy before answering.

“I told you. Besides,” He pulled the fag from his mouth, making it easier to understand him,” Elijah called me and told me you had quite a row. You shouldn’t be like that you know the kid’s only trying to help.”

“He should help himself. At least I’m not pining for a married man.”

“Not yet anyway.” Orlando remarked and Dominic was torn between crying, and pulling every pretty curly hair from the Canterbury kid’s head.

2:30 pm.

“Jesus fucking Christ, I can’t believe you are shite at this now. You used to slaughter everyone but Billy.”

Dominic growled deep in his throat, before taking a swig of his beer.

He was not sure he liked this going to the pub business, and after his adventure with Hans yesterday, he felt he should like to avoid pubs for a while. Once Orlando finishes this pitiful game of pool that is.

“Eight ball side pocket.” He mumbled around his cig, and Dominic watched with subdued disappointment as the ball slides neatly into the pocket.

“Wasn’t really concentrating anyway.” Dominic mumbled, and crossed his legs with a sniff.

“So you want to talk about it, or do I have to kick your ass at something else?”

“No and no.” Dominic remarked, and was surprised at how snarky he sounded.

4:15

“I haven’t heard from him since the premiere you know. I still don’t know exactly what happened.”

“And you won’t find out today.” Dominic grumbled, as he shoveled a mound of pasta in his mouth, to emphasize his point.

Orlando was nonplussed.

6:15

“New York traffic is possibly even worse than in LA. That’s fucking amazing.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Dominic replied, and this time Orlando was a bit ruffled.

“There’s no need to get huffy.”

7:47

“I’m going to crash on your couch, if you don’t mind.”

“How long will you be in town?”

Dominic didn’t care if he sounded rude; he’d been annoyed all day. Why couldn’t his friends accept that he wanted to wallow?

“Until I think you are safe to be alone. You look like shite mate, and I’m worried.”

Dominic was taken back by the sincerity of Orlando’s voice.

“I’ll ring room service for some blankets.”

9:57

“Move over, your elbow is digging into my hip.”

“You move. This is my couch after all.”

“Like hell it is, this is my room. Hans, tell him to move!”

“Both of you be quiet already. I’m going to miss the weather report, and I have an outdoor shooting tomorrow!”  
  
Dominic and Orlando only last exactly 27 seconds before they begin to erupt with laughter.

“Hans, you dumb ass, this is the weather channel. The report will be up in six minutes.”

Dominic shoved Orlando in the ribs. Hans didn’t like to be called dumb, and Orli and Dom wouldn’t be able to take him if he got bent out of shape. Orlando didn’t listen.

“Besides, this is the weather report for the Dominican Republic. Didn’t you think it was odd that the temperature for the week was sunny and 85 degrees?”

“Shut up, Bloomie.”

Dominic snickered despite the death glare Orlando gave him. He made a note to call Orlando Bloomie as much as possible.

10:57

“Night Dommie, sleep well.”

“Don’t want to sleep yet. It’s still early.”

Orlando ushered him into his room, and like a mother hen, pulled the covers back.

“Well, I need to sleep, and you can’t share the couch with me.”

“Why not?”

“Oh, that’s rich coming from the guy who didn’t even want me here.”

Dominic would look chagrined, but his yawn squished his face up. He really was tired, and perhaps a bit buzzed. How many nights would he be lured to sleep by the effects of alcohol?

“Nite Bloomie.”

“Ha ha.” And with that, the man left Dominic to his own devices.

Dominic listened to the click of the frosted glass door that divides his room from the sitting room, and turned on his side, letting his eyes adjust to the blue-black shade of the room. He wanted to think of many things, happy things, but all he could think about was how heavy the blanket felt against his shoulders, and how very cold the mattress was, if he brushed his fingers on the space just beyond where parts of his body lie.

He didn’t think he’d ever get used to sleeping alone.


	3. Wednesday

Wednesday

3:57 a.m.

 

Dominic’s phone was ringing. He could hear the polite chirp, followed by the strong buzz, but he didn’t bother to get up. He didn’t know what time it was, but he knew it was too fucking late for anyone with any sense to be calling him, therefore he would not bother rolling over to pick up the phone. Not for anybody.

“Dominic, get the fucking phone already!”

He rolled his eyes at Orlando’s grumpy lilt, what did he know anyway? How dare he draw out Dom’s name in three sharp syllables like he was a little boy? His primary school teacher did that, and it was very annoying. He grunted irritably, and rolled onto his stomach. His skin cried out from the shock as it touches cool parts of the sheets.

The phone rang again.

“Sblomie, I swear to god, if you don’t get the phone-“

“Alright, half a minute for Christ’s sake.”

He rolled over again, eyes thin slits against the city lights, and fumbled for his phone. It was not on the nightstand, as it had vibrated off and onto the floor. He groaned as he reached down to grasp it with sleep numb fingers.

Just as his fingers find the answer button, the phone stopped ringing.

“Shit.”

He rubbed a hand over sleep filled eyes, and looked into the display window.

“One new message.”

“This better be good.” He mumbled, and rolled onto his back.

Orlando’s breathing had slowed and Dom suspected he drifted back to sleep.

“Dommie, its Elijah. I know it was late there, but I ah, I wanted to say hi. Well no, actually I called because I think you should call Billy. I’m in London, as you know, and um, I’ve heard that he was not doing so well. I think you two should talk Dom. You were friends, you still should be friends. Anyhow, um, I’ll call you later I guess. I’m sure you’ll be pissed that I woke you up just to tell you to call him, but you should, Dom. Don’t be a dick. Call him. He wouldn’t know what to do otherwise. A guy's gotta have a clue ya know? I mean…”

The young man took a big sigh, and Dom could imagine his long brows frowned with worry. His voice was a bit shaky as he continued.

“Ok, I promised I wouldn’t lecture you again when I left but I lied. It’s bad enough to deal with my shit, I couldn’t stand to sit back and watch you two fuck everything up. You guys...you suit each other. And there isn’t anything really that’s stopping you from being together but your own fucked up worries. And that’s not a proper excuse. You love him Dominic, and he loves you. He loves you. That means something doesn’t it? That…”

“Mr. Wood, we’re ready.”

“I have to go Dom, you take care ok? When I’m back in town, we’ll talk. If you see the guys, tell them I say hi alright? Bye.”

Dominic pressed the “end” button on his cell, his throat all scratchy and burning.

“Dammit Elijah.”

He pulled himself from the bed, and folded his arms around himself. He ached, his heart ached, and not just for his own loneliness. Elijah was in London, miles away from him, aching too, and unlike Dom, he was not such a selfish prick that he couldn’t worry about his friends. Dom made a vow to make amends with Elijah when he saw him, after of course, kicking his ass for waking him up at the hour. But first, he had to deal with another problem.

Should he call Billy?

What if he called and Billy wasn’t home? Perhaps he was just waking up after an evening of shagging his girlfriend all evening. Nah, Elijah said he wasn’t doing so well. Since when did that stop a guy from fucking? Dominic told his brain to kindly shut the hell up, while he worked up the nerve to call him. He should call Billy, and show that he was the bigger man, not the immature sex crazed git Billy called him at the premiere. Ya, if he called him that would be sweet revenge, he would play it cool, have civilized conversation, and maybe he would get to bring the letter up and expedite the whole seven days part. He dialed the number before he lost his nerve.

Dominic always forgot that the ring in the UK sounds different than in America. He had been in the states so long, it sounds foreign to him.

After seven rings, (and why the hell did he have it set for so many, that’s so bloody irritating!) the answering machine kicked in. Dom would smile at the various amusing answering machine memories that cropped up in his mind, if he wasn’t so damned disappointed that he didn’t get to speak to the real live Billy. He hadn’t planned on this, and where the hell was he? He looked at his watch as he leaves his message.

“Bill, it was me. I uh, shit. I was just calling to well, say hello.”

Alright Monaghan, not a bad start, you could sound a bit less moody. Hmm, what to say? Offer a reason for calling, so he didn’t think you were a stalker.

“Lijah said he rung you the other day, thought I should call you. So, I’m calling you.”

Bloody brilliant wanker. So much for the civilized adult. He bloody hated leaving messages like this, it was only fun when he knew where Billy was, what he was doing, and where the hell was he? It was after nine there, he should have been up unless he was out at a pub of course. Still, it was not like Billy to be in his cups so early in the week. Maybe he really wasn’t doing well.

“It was ah, about 9:10 your time, so I think you should be up, unless you got sloshed last night, in which case this call would probably wake you up.”

A new dark thought enters his mind as he continued. Billy could be with her still, in bed, sleeping off the effects of a good shag. That always kept him in bed too. She was, after all, his girlfriend. He was allowed to shag her. And he had been known to have sex with her from time to time, so it was a possibility, especially if he was not up yet…

“Well, hope all was well. Give my regards to your girlfriend. Bye.”

He pressed the “end” button on his phone, and sighed. Maybe he just didn’t get to the phone in time. He could have been in the loo. He hesitated a moment and then called again.

Seven rings later, he hung up before the answering machine comes on again. He wouldn’t leave another message, that’d be just too pathetic. A wave of anger floods him again. He should have answered the phone, he should have been there. Dom was an idiot for calling in the first place, he wouldn’t call again. He meant it.

He always gave to Billy, gave him everything and then some. His body, his pride, his fucking soul. Let Billy offer, let him come to Dom for once. He turned his mobile off, and tucked it into his nightstand before crawling back into his cold bed. He waited several moments despite himself, waiting for the hum of the phone, before sleep claimed him again.

 

9:12

“Dom, were you awake?”

Dominic rolled onto his stomach, and wondered in his sleepy haze why people always ask such stupid questions.

“No.”

“Well you should be, get up. I’m hungry.”

Orlando’s voice was decidedly pouty and while the image of a pouting Orli might be the stuff of fan girl (or boy) dreams, it most certainly was not that impressive to Dom when he was not even bloody awake.

“Then take your lazy arse downstairs and get food. Or order room service.”

He pulled the covers over his head, ignoring Orli’s disgusted gasp, and tucks in deeper.

“Absolutely not. We’re not going to spend the better part of the morning in this room Dominic. Especially after you woke me up this morning with that sodding phone call.”

Orlando snatched the covers off (wanker) and pulled at Dom’s pillow, (with Dom still attached) until the thin Manchester lad was pulled clean off the bed onto the floor.

“Ow.”

“Serves your right you silly git. Now up!”

“Bossy lil bugger weren’t we?”

Dominic pulled himself up off the floor, scratching his ass absentmindedly. He had to pee.

“I’ll make some tea, and go take a piss for the love of God, Sblomie; I have no interest in seeing your woody first thing in the morning.”

He wanted to yell, “His name was Weasel!” But he didn’t. He went to pee instead.

11:27

“So Bloomie, what’s on the agenda for the day? You here to hang glide through Manhattan, or bungee jump off the Brooklyn Bridge?”

Orlando looked at him over his cup of coffee, and rolled eyes.

“Don’t be silly. Been there, done that, as they say in America. No, I think I’ll enjoy quality time with my good mate Dominic.”

Dominic scratched his jaw and swallowed the last of the cheesy eggs he just chewed.

Whenever Orlando Bloom intended to spend a day with someone that meant he had every intention of driving them ape shit until they submitted to his want.

“So ah, what would two good mates from England do for quality time?”

He wiped his mouth to cover his frayed nerves, which, upon seeing the determined expression on Orlando’s face, were becoming increasingly shaken.

“Oh you know, talk, and catch up a bit on things. Find out why Dominic had taken to being seen at various parties out whoring for attention, drinking himself to oblivion, and taking dim witted beefcakes as boyfriends while pining away for a certain Scot.”

“That’s not fair; Hans is very bright in his own way.”

“Dominic…”

“Oh bloody hell Orlando what do you want me to say?”

“Answer my questions. Why have you been going to those silly events? How can you expect to be taken seriously when you were seen drunk off your ass and wrapped around your publicist in LA at yet another nobody’s sweet sixteen or what not?”

“It was a 21st birthday party, and Helen is a friend of mine.”

“Fine, why then were you partying so much in the first place?”

“Go to hell Orlando, that’s real rich coming from the once infamous London Club Kid.”

“Oh, don’t even start, don’t start with that. That was different, I was young-“

“And heartbroken!”

Dominic was a bit surprised at the pitch and volume of his voice, and softened it a bit.

“Heartbroken, and doing anything, anything you could to escape the pain.”

Dominic knew Orlando would understand. The music took on a physical presence when he was dancing, the bass ripped through his chest, wrapped around his miserable heart, and for a few moments he could forget. He forgot everything, only knew the pure, unassuming music, and the euphoric sway of his hips. The partners might change, (sometimes there were none) but in the end, Dominic’s only partner was the dance.

“Why the drinking then?”

Orlando’s soft voice tore Dominic away from the memory but he wasn’t angry.

“Just part of the package, love. I don’t look for it, but if it was offered…”

“You take, even if it means you’ll be paying for it in the morning. Jesus, you have a death wish mate? Elijah told me about the whole incident in Seattle you know.”

Dom wiggled in his chair uncomfortably, and looked out the window to the bustling street.

Seattle was just supposed to be an easy weekend for Elijah and Dom. Some fairly known conference, sign a few fan autographs and see about the music scene down there. Elijah thought the love of the fans, and the quest for a good band would do him good, and at first it did. He really did love the smiling faces of the people who clambered up to see him and tell him how his (small in his opinion) part on the epic changed their lives. He grinned all day, genuinely too, and his hand hurt from all the autographs he signed, but it was a good ache.

What sent it downhill, was the party they were invited too, hosted by the event company that arranged the conference. Some of the best of Seattle’s indie bands were booked, hoping to snare Elijah’s interest and perhaps be taken as his new pet project, and there was drinking a plenty. Many a girl, or boy, had slithered up to Dommie, offering their bodies, but he wasn’t in the mood that night. All the music, guitars, drums, the smell of beer, smoke, and musk, reminded Dom of Billy for some reason, and killed his chances at enjoying anyone’s company.

The music wasn’t the sort that you could dance too, not the dance he enjoyed, so that left him one outlet: liquor. He remembers announcing a round of drinks for everyone, (which received the appropriate cheers as a response) and the next thing he knew, he woke up hours later, lying pasty and weak on a ratty couch.

“Wha…”

“Lie down Dominic.”

He looked up at the shaking voice of Elijah, and was a bit surprised to see a silvery line of tears that threatened to fall over the brim on his lid. He took a cleansing breath, and leaned his head against the sagging cushion.

“Where are we?”

“In the back of the bar, the employee lounge.”

Dominic wrinkled his eyes, and snorted with laughter.

“Didn’t know bars had lounges for their employees.”

“Apparently they do.”

Elijah’s fingers against his brow felt cool, like a glass of water after mowing the lawn, and his lashes fluttered against the contact. No sooner than he had begun to nudge his head against the soothing comfort of the gesture, the moment was shattered by the solid thump of the young American’s hand against his pounding head.

“Ow, the fuck did you do that for?”

“You have any idea how bad you just scared me? You passed out Dominic, in the bathroom, and some guy found you in a pile of your own puke by the urinal. You could have drowned in you own fucking vomit in a bar in Seattle.”

Dominic had the decency to feel chagrined, and dirty, but not much else. Secretly, deep deep inside, part of him wouldn’t have minded the release from it all, but he never told anyone that. Not until then.

“S’not like it would have been a great loss to many.”

“You keep talking like that Monaghan, and I’ll have you snatched up and put on a fifty-one fifty hold.”

He looked up into the glittering eyes of Elijah, and back down at the cold concrete floor.

“I didn’t mean it, I’m just being miserable. You know what I mean, I don’t feel like I’m contributing to the world much right now, you have your movies and music, Sean his politics, Orlando his super-star status, Billy, well, every week he was given some new honor, award, or title. Hell, he would be fifth in line for the throne at the rate he was going.”

Elijah just studied him for a moment, (he’d heard this whine before) before hefting him up by one arm, and taking him out the back door, to the limo. Dominic wanted to crack a joke about Elvis, but didn’t bother. He didn’t feel like the King of anything but misery and failure.

“Did you really say I was a super star?”

Orlando’s voice once again tore him away from his little memory, and he smiled at the man’s honest humility. That’s why he loved him in the first place. He truly didn’t think he was as great as he really was, not if you knew him. He doubted himself more often then he should, but that was another story altogether.

“Yea, you were you little prick, though god only knows why.”

A coffee scented wad of napkin was his reply.

“So, what about it then?”

Orlando didn’t need to explain.

“I haven’t done something like that since. I mean, yes, I’ve had my drink, but never, ever like that again. My throat still hurts from all the dry heaves.”

“I hope you keep your promise.”

“I keep my promises Orlando.”

Orlando didn’t know of what promises Dominic was referring to, but then, he didn’t really have to.

 

“Ah, that brings us to question number three and four, not that, of course, you’ve given me a good answer to one and two, but for the sake of time, I’ll let you slide. Dominic, when were you going to talk to Billy, and what’s this I hear about you and Hans being together? I never fancied you were a liar.”

Hot guilt rushed up into Dom’s throat.

“I wouldn’t talk to Billy, and well, Hans was just, well, supporting evidence if you follow me.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, I sent Billy a letter.”

Dark eyebrows arched at him, silently requesting an explanation.

“I um, gave him seven days to get his shit together, and come to see me, if he wants me.”

“That was brave of you. When did you send this?”

“Monday.”

There was a slight pause before he spoke again.

“And um, who no reply yet?”

Dominic was grateful that Orlando at least sounded a bit surprised. Maybe elves weren’t all that bad after all.

“No. But, in case he did show up, I’ve enlisted Hans to rouse a bit of jealousy. It was childish I know, but I couldn’t have him think I was a pathetic loner who hadn’t found anyone else since him, who was sending this letter in a last ditch effort to preserve his sanity so he didn’t end up like Elijah.”

“That was low mate.”

“But true. Elijah and I, we’re on the same boat, except I have a chance at getting off, so I’m taking it.”

“And what if he didn’t reply? What if he thinks the letter was a joke?”

“What if he didn’t care? What if his reply was a wedding invitation? I’ve already had these same thoughts Orlando, but the ends justified the means.”

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

_But you were thinking it._

Dominic hailed the waitress for the check, and moments later; the pair was heading back to the hotel.

2:03

“So, when do you think he would show up?”

“As you cleverly pointed out, he might never show up.”

“What if he never got the letter?”

“He did, I got the confirmation that morning. I even know the name of the bloke he signed it off to, compliments of the World Wide Web.”

“Oh.”

Dominic took a swig of his soda, and then let out a satisfied sigh.

“So, what’s his name?”

“Pardon?”

“The bloke that delivered it, what was his name?”

“Stephen.”

“Oh.”

3:47

“You wanna go out tonight? We haven’t been out on the pull in a while.”

“Nah, I’m going to stay in I think.”

“I think you should go, you always enjoyed dancing.”

“Thanks Hans, but I don’t think so.”

“Well, I think so. You’re going out with me tonight, I won’t take no for an answer.”

“I’m not going. I don’t feel like it.”

“Yes you are. We’re not going to stay in all night, watching you mope. We’re going to have a wash, a bite to eat, do a wee bit of sight seeing, then go out to a club, and dance the night away. You might even get laid, if I play my cards right, and give Billy something real to be jealous over.”

“I am not moping.”

One amused snort from Hans, and he was up (grumbling) and heading to shower.

9:23

“This is great isn’t it?”

Orlando had to scream over the steady rhythm of the bass and the metallic lyrics that were blasting from the various speakers planted throughout the massive club.

“It’s alright.” Dominic shrugged, though part of him was a bit pleased.

“How about you Hans? You like this stuff?”

Dominic clapped a hand over the tall man’s muscled shoulder, and smiled. His friend should at least have fun.

“Ja, it’s very cool here. Those ladies keep looking at me and waving, I think I might take one home.”

Dominic and Orlando both turned to the man’s quarry, and grinned.

“Hans, mate, those aren’t women you know.”

Hans looked down at the chestnut Canterbury lad, and chuckled.

“Of course they are, one of them brushed against me while dancing, and her breasts were real.”

Before either could comment on that, the German was parting through the bodies, dancing, (off beat) to the girls.

“Well, he’s in for a surprise.”

“Hmm, that he is, I only hope they survive the scuffle.”

“Come on Dom, let’s go dance.”

The music was prime, and the energy was crackling in the air, pouring over Dom’s skin and sweat, until he throbbed with a deep unfulfilled yet familiar ache. The sway of his body and hot brush of air as space was filled then re-created, was incredibly sexy, and made him more than just a bit randy.

Sometimes, Dom would drag Billy out with him to clubs in New Zealand, though the Scot was not really a dancer. How ironic, he thought, considering his current taste in girlfriends. Anyhow, Dominic would take Billy out, get them dressed in some horribly loud and garish outfit that Orlando would approve of, and make Billy dance. He would always have to wait until well into the night, just before closing in most cases, and Billy would always protest mightily, but in the end, he would give in, and they would end up in the center of the throng, blending into the writhing storm of people that were out on the floor. Billy liked anonymity, and there was no better place for this than a crowded dance floor.

Despite Billy’s hesitation, he always proved to be fairly agile on the floor with Dom. He couldn’t do any fancy moves, and he always had a shaky off beat start, but once Dom would place a large hand on his hip and show him the way, Billy would match and compliment Dom’s pace. Billy would stay close to Dominic, one of the rare times when he allowed them to be seen so intimately in public. He would find an excuse to touch Dom’s flushed skin with his cool fingers, and his hips would press against Dom’s from time to time, showing him the heat and promise that was confined there. He would lift his head back and expose pale hot cords of veins, and Dominic would lean down, sorely tempted to bite, lick, and mark, but resigned to just inhale sharply and take in the tang of sweat, musk, and Billy. It was enough to make his mouth water. In those moments, Dominic was in heaven. The sight of Billy, thrusting and swaying provocatively before him, clothes sticking to his lean chest and flat stomach, would make Dominic hungry for him faster than anything else in the world.

Anything, perhaps, except the sight of the Scot, and the sound of him, when he would lean forward, his face a breath away from Dom’s ear, and murmur, “Take me home, Dominic, and fuck me with your body instead of your eyes. I see how you’ve been looking at me.”

Sometimes, Dominic would obey immediately. Other times, he would torture both of them, with a lopsided grin on his face, and pull apart from him slightly, knowing the effects the air would have on Billy’s jean-clad crotch. He would lick his lips, (Billy loved his lips) and shrug innocently, mouthing “I need a drink.”

In those moments, Billy would be at the end of his tether, and would follow Dom back to the bar, silent, heat pouring off of him. He would wait until Dom had ordered and received his drink then he would place a firm hand on his shoulder, place his lips against Dom’s ear, and reply, “I’ll leave you to your drink then.”

The contact of the lilt in his ear, and the velvety soft lips, would all but undo him, and he would leave the drink on the bar with some cash, quickly forgotten.

Yes, dancing in the clubs would lead to the best sex of his life.

11:23

“This is great, if I do say so myself.”

His skin was flushed, but cooling in the darkened booth they were sitting in, and he at least was plagued with pleasant, (albeit frustrating) memories. One thing was for sure; he would definitely need a wank tonight.

“I knew you’d come around.”

“Right. And the drinks we’ve had have nothing to do with my revised assessment.”

“Certainly not. Besides, I dunno who you think you’re fooling, you’ve only had one beer.”

It was true, he wasn’t drunk (yet) but it was rather hard to stay salty when so many people around him were trying so hard to keep him happy. He was not that selfish. Besides, Orlando was fun to dance with.

“He seems to be enjoying himself.”

Orlando let out a breathless laugh, and his eyes rolled slowly over to the sight of Hans boogieing on the dancing floor.

“Hmm, wait till he gets them home and unwraps their presents.”

“Present, what would that be? A schnitzel flavored condom?”

“Ha ha , Monaghan, that was funny, no really.”

If only his voice was sincere.

“I do what I can.”

12:57

“Hans, I’m going home now. You think you’ll be ok here alone? Orlando’s pulled some bird, so you’ll be here alone.”

Though not really, if he wanted to be technical, as Hans was still surrounded by a few admirers who were writhing around him in unison.

“You want me to come with you? You don’t have to be alone tonight.”

The offer was sweet, and sincere, and Dominic almost skipped a beat.

“Nah, really, have fun ok? I’ll catch you in the morning.”

Hopefully not in jail for assault and battery once he realized “Jeri” was Jerry.

“Alright. Good night, Dom.”

He waved at his friend as he slithered through the crowd, and into the sharp cold of the night.


	4. Thursday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Olthomelethril, who coined a line that sparked the series companion in the first place: _The Dom jab thing worked totally. I could just see him sitting there mentally adding a point to his scoreboard. One for Monaghan. Zero for HeterosexualbastardBillywhobrokemyheart._

Part Four Thursday 8:13 a.m.

“Top of the morning to you!” Dominic smiled broadly at his couch mate, and took a generous gulp of his orange juice. Freshly squeezed, mind you.

“What the hell has you in such a good mood?”

Dominic blinked one time, slowly, before he replied.

“I’m not, but I figured I would try to be more cheerful, since I thought you would be giddy after a night of shagging like monkeys.”

With a wince, Orlando shifted uncomfortably, for reasons Dominic would not care to explore before he had a bit of breakkie.

“Well I’m not in a great mood, so you need not pretend.”

“Oh.”

9:47

“Hans!”

“Hey, Dominic! Guten Morgen!”

“Morning Hans.”

“Hello Bloomie. You look pale, have you eaten yet?”

Dominic’s snicker was cut off by the dark look “Bloomie” sends him.

“No, Dom here just got done preening, so now we can leave to eat and terrorize the city some more.”

“Good, good then. I’ll get my coat ja?”

3:45

“So, Hans, tell me, did you enjoy your “ladies” last night?”

Orlando snickered, and looked down at his plate, waiting for the German to begin telling of how he undoubtedly got the shock of his life when he went to undress his dates.

“I certainly did.”

Both Dominic and Orlando were taken back by his smug grin. Yet, in the interest of preserving their appetites, neither decided to question him further.

“How about you Bloomie? Did you enjoy your lady friend? You look very tired, and you looked tired yesterday too. Have you been sleeping well?”

Orlando shook off his irritation over the term Bloomie, as his eyes lit up with what Dominic recognized as mischief.

“Oh, I haven’t been sleeping well, not with Dominic getting mysterious phone calls in the wee hours of the morning.”

Hans raised his blond eyebrows, and asked the expected question, “Who was it Dom?”

Dominic fingered his teacup, and made sure he rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner.

“Elijah.”

Orlando didn’t bother hiding his surprise.

“Oh, what did he want then?”

“The usual: Don’t be a dick, call Bill and make up with him; he’s the love of your life.”

Hans grinned at the high pitch tone Dom used when impersonating Elijah.

“So did you call him?”

Leave it to Orlando to stay focused when it comes to prying into Dom’s life.

“Yea, I called him.”

Even Hans didn’t bother to be interested in his bacon.

Orlando sucked his teeth in impatience, as Dom deliberated over what, (how much) he should say.

“Bloody hell Dom, don’t lollygag! What did you say?”

“He wasn’t there.”

“Aw…”

Orlando learned back in his chair irritably and Hans dropped his piece of bacon as if it just told him a rotten joke.

Dominic smiled.

“So I left a message for him.”

“Oh? What did you say?”

Orli leans foreword again, and his eyebrows knit, as if Dominic was about to recite a very important poem.

“I just told him I was calling because Elijah suggested I give him a ring, and that he was probably asleep so he could call me when he got the message. And I sent my regards to the bird.”

Dominic hoped he said that last part with as much aloofness as he wanted to say it with. Secretly, he was rather pleased with himself when he thought of his message after the fact. It was low, yes, to bring her up, but fair. This was the game of love after all.

He added that point to his mental score board: _One for Monaghan. Zero for heterosexualbastardBillywhobrokemyheart._

“Oh, well, that’s good. It’s nice of you to be able to leave a message without making a scene, especially if his girlfriend lives with him now, and hears it. I’m proud of you mate.”

Orlando pressed a warm hand on Dom’s shoulder, and suddenly Dom didn’t feel so victorious anymore.

8:10

“So how was Elijah doing? When was the last time you spoke with him?”

“Not since Sunday. We ah, didn’t leave on good terms.”

Actually, they spent the better part of an hour screaming at each other, well, mainly Dominic was just screaming, wailing to the heavens about the injustice of nature, and the mistakes he had made with Billy. When Elijah disagreed, Dominic took his anger out on the poor guy, and, fucked up though it was, pointed out that a lot of the mess he was in with Billy was, in part, Elijah’s fault. After all, he was the one who suggested they snog to make Sean jealous in the first place. The stricken look Elijah gave him before he left was so haunting, that whenever he closed his eyes that night, all he saw was two big tear filled eyes.

He hated to make Elijah cry.

“So what happened? What did you two have a row about? Poor guy always seemed to find himself involved in a disagreement with you and Billy remember?”

How could Dom forget? From the moment Elijah knew Dom and Billy were a pair, he always stumbled into or on a disagreement. Usually, Elijah would stroke Billy’s (quietly kept) jealous streak, with his youthful vitality, and know-it-all sass. Billy was not the type to lose his temper, in fact, he was almost always in a _good_ mood, but Elijah, when in his hyper moods, would set Billy right off.

The blue-eyed wonder was almost as good at it as Dominic was.

“Yea, I remember. He felt like shite about it too.”

“Didn’t Billy kick him out once, of his own house, because he pissed him off so bad?”

Despite the ache Dom felt upon remembering that day, he couldn’t help but smile. Only Billy Boyd could kick a grown man out of his house, so he could fight with his boyfriend in private.

“He sure did. Never heard him cuss so much in one sentence in my whole life actually. I kept near the phone, in anticipation of calling the ambulance for when his head exploded. His face was so red.”

Orlando doubled over in a fit of giggles, and Han’s dry chuckle joined in. Hans had now seen Billy, Orlando found _his_ photo album, and amidst the various pictures of Viggo, Liv, and other hobbits, managed to snag one of the rare pictures of Dom and Billy, taken at their first premiere in New York. When the German looked down at the snapshot taken in Orli’s room before the festivities, he smiled.

“He loved you desperately then. You know that right?”

Dom swallowed around the quiet sadness in his voice.

“How do you know?”

“You can see it in his eyes. When you were near him, he saw no one else.”

To emphasize his point, Hans placed a thick finger on the small image of the pair, and Dom looked down. True to form, Dom’s arm was around Billy, casually draped on the smaller man’s shoulders. Though Dom wasn’t paying attention to Billy, Bill’s gaze was locked on Dom, eyes blazing with open adoration. To see it now cut a deep hole in Dom’s belly.

“So, what did Elijah do in LA that pissed the kilted wonder off?”

Orlando’s polite query broke the spell and Dominic blinked once slowly to re-focus.

“Nothing really, you know Billy. We were playing video games, and Billy got bored I guess. Elijah and I had had a few beers, so we were pretty loud, and Billy was still jetlagged. Anyhow, it was one of the first trips to LA for him, and he was out of sorts with it all. We took him to some clubs, saw a few sights, but Bill, Bill wasn’t impressed with it at all.”

*

”So this was Sunset strip eh? It was alright. Don’t like how everyone stares at you all the time. Amoeba records? Pfft. Why couldn’t we go to a normal store that had easy parking huh?”

“Bills, those people were looking at you because they probably recognize you from the movie. And Amoeba is an amazing place, they have the best music. Give it a try, it’ll be like it was in Wellington.”

Billy looked at him from the passenger side of the car, and shook his head slowly.

“It will never be like it was in Wellington, Dominic. That was a dream, and we’ve both woken up.”

Dominic took the Scot back home then, Elijah’s home, and tried to ignore the bitter taste that had settled in his mouth that afternoon. He hoped a little quality time with Elijah and the games would lighten the mood, but he was wrong. Billy didn’t want to play games, and Elijah’s cocky demeanor only served to piss him off further. Every time Elijah would crow happily and run over to their scoreboard, Billy would look at it with an indistinguishable expression on his face.

At length, he got up, under the pretense of getting another beer, but Dominic saw the looked he gave the pictures of Dom and Elijah on the fridge. He saw how Billy’s fingers ran over the little notes Elijah wrote to Dom and vice versa that were taped and scribbled on the whiteboard. They were quick messages like “Don’t forget your keys!” or “I washed your blue shirt with my laundry, and put it in your drawer!”

They were mundane, they were generic, and they were very domestic. It wasn’t until Dom saw the open look of envy across Billy’s face, that he realized that Billy was jealous. Unfortunately, Dom would have no time to address this, for, as Billy was looking at a rather silly picture of Dom, with a lapful of Elijah, giving the kid a smooch on the cheek, Elijah chose that moment to become very playful, spontaneously tackle Dom.

“Sudden death match! Loser gives out blowjobs! Who’s game?”

The pair was a mess of legs and arms, and grunted, as Dom tried, and failed to disentangle himself from Elijah’s playful embrace. The younger man would have none of it, and with a crow of delight, flopped onto Dom’s lap, tickling, and wiggling down Dom’s body. Dom laughed nervously, and gave Elijah a gentle shove, but Elijah, wrapped up in peels of laughter, simply doubled over in Dom’s lap, and tried to catch his breath.

“You’re such a wanker, Lijah.” The smile on his face belied the sinking in his heart. He could feel Billy’s discontent from the kitchen.

“But you love me anyway.”

Dominic wouldn’t deny it, not ever, and Elijah certainly had no designs on Dom, but that still didn’t stop both friends from looking up at Billy guiltily, when the man walked back in the room, and found them in their awkward position, Elijah insisting on Dom’s love for him.

“Ehm.”

Dominic remembers he gulped. “Ehm,” in Billywanese, was never a good sign. From Dom’s experience, the man was either two steps away from showing you just _how much_ jeet kune doo he knew, or, he was about to give you a tongue lashing that one wouldn’t soon forget.

“Billy! You’re back, thought you got lost in our 4x3 kitchen. Join us.”

Dominic knew just from the twitch of Billy’s lips, what words Billy didn’t care for.

_“Our kitchen.”_

“Ehm.”

Shit, that was never a good sign. Double-ehm, meant he was trying to figure out exactly how to go about kicking your ass. He was probably calculating angles right that minute.

“Elijah, I think Billy and I need to talk…”

“Talk? Why, is there a problem?”

“Yes, you daft tosser, there is a problem. Dominic, why don’t you have any pictures of me up?”

Dominic blinked at the tone of Billy’s voice, and felt Elijah stiffen against him.

“Because it’s not his house.”

“But it’s his fucking kitchen? Or was there a god-damned mouse in your pocket when you suggested I got lost on “our sodding kitchen.”?”

“Billy-“

“What’s your fucking problem Bill? You’ve been a dick since you got here.”

“How the hell would you know? I’m surprised you two cunts even knew I was still here, you’re so wrapped up in your game. All I’ve had to entertain me was a city full of plastic people and fake smiles. I dunno how you can stand this fucking place.”

Dominic could do nothing but watch, with the kind of morbid fascination one had in a car wreck on the side of the highway.  
  
“Oh, I see nothing in California has been good enough for you. Why did you bother to come if you knew you weren’t going to have a good time?”

 _Because he loves me,_ Dominic thought, but never got a chance to answer. Billy, for his part, grew very deadly quiet and soft.

“Elijah, I would really appreciate it if you could give us a few moments of privacy.”

“I’m not leaving, this was my house, besides, you look really pissed off right now, and I don’t like how you’re looking at Dominic…”

“Dominic can take of himself, and he’s not your concern. He’s mine.”  
  
He raised his voice, to a volume Elijah had never heard, and it was etched in pain. Three pairs of eyes all blinked, one after the other, before Elijah pulled himself from Dom’s lap.

“Call me on my cell if the kilted commando gets out of hand Dominic.”

“Bugger off, Elijah.”

“Gladly you cranky bastard. You never used to be this miserable, you used to be the happy hobbit.”

Before Billy could reply, Elijah slammed the door behind him.

Dominic sat down, with an almost mechanical slowness, and hung his folded hands in the gap between his legs. Dimly, a voice in his head reminded him to fix his posture, as his shoulders were hunched, but he told the voice, (which, conversely sounded a lot like his mum) to shut it for a moment so he could think.

“Well, you certainly know how to be a gracious houseguest. That’s a nice way to make a good impression: act like a stupid jealous tosser.”

“I didn’t come here to see Elijah, though perhaps I should have known that you two had become an extension for one another. I thought Orlando and Sean were merely kidding when they referred to you two as DomandElijah.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Why can’t we be friends, I don’t really have anyone else. Orlando and the rest of the fellowship were abroad, Sean has his family, and you-“

“Me? I’m back home trying to sort my new life together Dominic. We’ve had this discussion before.”

“No, you had this discussion before. I just listened.”

“If you weren’t keen on the arrangement, then you didn’t have to agree to it. You could have just cut the ties right then. You didn’t have to find someone else to warm you bed Dominic I…”

He took a shuddering breath before continuing.

“I’m giving you all that I’ve got to give, and then some.”

Dominic closed his eyes slowly, and took a deep breath. Though he knew Billy was trying, a niggling part of him was still angry that he wasn’t doing more, that he didn’t do more, for them. Billy could be with Dominic if he wanted too, full time, but something was holding him back. To add insult to injury, he now believed Dom was cheating on him, with Elijah of all people. How many times had he had the chance to shag another, and refused, because all he could see was Billy’s sad eyes, and hear the disappointment in his voice. No, Dom wasn’t going to do that, because he knew it was Billy’s worst nightmare.

“You’re too young for this, I should have let you go when we left New Zealand.”

 _Let me go? What the hell am I a fucking puppy?_ “Don’t patronize me, and don’t presume to know shite about what I’m ready for Billy Boyd.”

Dominic couldn’t stay there, so close to him, while Billy wore that sad, all-knowing expression on his face, that was fucking bullshit. He had to put some space between them, so he got up.

 _Beer,_ his mind cried, and his legs obeyed him. By the time his fingers were wrapped around a cool bottle, Billy appeared, still wearing that ugly look.

“I’m not trying to patronize you Dominic, I’m trying to save you.”

And damn him for sounding so reasonable and ridiculous at the same time.

“Save me,” he began, his eyes asking the question, _”or you?”_ “What were you so afraid of?”

Billy’s face squashed up in anger and frustration, and he dug the heels of his hand into his eyes. Dominic slammed his beer bottle down on the counter so hard, he was amazed that it didn’t shatter.

“Everything! You. Of losing you!” His eyes were wild with fear, and reminded Dominic of a spooked stallion

Like a ton of bricks, it hit Dominic. Billy was scared of losing himself. He was afraid of losing the lines between them. Dominic knew when that time came, Billy would not, could not, turn back and be the man he once was.

“I’m playing for keeps Dommie. You’re going to wake up one day, and not want to be bothered with an old man like me.”

It was rubbish, and Billy knew it, yet, whenever they argued, Bill was quick to point out their age difference in a self-depreciating manner. It broke Dominic’s heart to see him like this, frail, thin, and stretched too far in the florescent kitchen light. Dominic didn’t need him to be younger, he didn’t need him to beat him at a video game, or try to pretend he was interested in the same things Dom was. All Dom ever wanted, and ever needed, was for Billy to have faith in him, and in his affections. He knew tears pricked his eyes when he answered him, and his voice more than cracked.

“I’ll never. I’ve never wanted anyone but you, not since I met you. Suggesting I’d be fuck buddies with Elijah was bollocks and you know it.”

Billy nodded sadly, “Aye I do. But I know I’m right about you wanting a bit of freedom Dom. If I’m not right now, I would be in the end.”

Was he right? Dominic knew better than to argue, not while he was in the mood, and not until he had thought on the matter longer, and could recite tangible proof that Billy was wrong, until then, nothing he could say would soothe his fears. He took his cool hands to his mouth, and kissed his knuckles softly.

“Bills, let’s just take this one day at a time ok?”

Billy smiled softly, and nodded.

“I’ve not had another but you Billy, not since that night in Wellington. You know that. Besides, me and Elijah? Pfft. Astin would kill me.”

Billy worried his eyebrows in confusion.

“Yeh mean, him and Elijah…”

“Have been at it, almost since day one. You couldn’t tell? He was always hugging him, and kissing him, and-“

“But, I mean, we play around all the time, and we did too before-“

“Before you carried me out of the pub in Wellington, took me to your flat, and shagged me senseless like you’d wanted to for months?”

Dom batted his eyes innocently, and Billy rolled his eyes.

“Months? Bah! Hardly. A few weeks at best.”

“That’s not what you moaned in my ear when you…”

“I think I remember now Dominic. You were right, I’d wanted you almost from the moment I saw you. It was falling in love with you that took more time.”

“Almost from the moment you saw me?”

“Well, yeah sure. Your back was to me.”

Dominic remembers he laughed, and pulled Billy to him, and wrapped his arms around him, so tight, he thought their tee shirts would become one.

“I’m sorry your trip to LA hadn’t been enjoyable Billy. I’ve been a very bad host.”

Dominic whispered his words against Billy’s neck, and closed his eyes against the heat, and smell of him. God he missed his smell. Like a rich combination of wood, spice, sweat, and sweet. His mouth watered.

“S’alright Dommie. Elijah was right, I’ve just been a big grump since I got here. You forgive me?”

“Always.”

And then there was nothing left to say, that couldn’t be said with a kiss instead, so Dominic kissed him. They had been rather reserved since his arrival; with Billy being exhausted when he arrived, and sleeping until the next day. Then, Elijah had been around them at all times, and while he wouldn’t have minded if Dom snogged Billy to his heart’s content, Billy was never big on PDA, so Dom restrained himself. But now, there was no one around, and if Dom knew Sean and Elijah, there would be no one around until the next morning. His body hummed in anticipation.

“Dommie,” Billy closed his eyes, and inhaled sharply as Dom’s teeth found that pulsating cord that ran down Bill’s throat, and nipped. He was sure to leave a mark, but secretly, he enjoyed knowing this, and hoped the brand would still be visible when Billy went home.

Dominic growled, and pulled Billy along, “Bed. Now.”

The two made their way back down the hall, to Dom’s small bedroom, where they would christen the small narrow bed. Without much circumstance, clothes were shed, and bodies were drawn to each other like the charged magnets they were. In the calm silence of the small guest house, all that could be heard was the sound of their whispers, their labored breathing, and the gentle squeak of Dom’s bedspring, and the effect was almost pornographic, though neither minded, as their need and anxiety outweighed their sense of romanticism.

Dom never broke eye contact with Billy that night as they made love, atop the sheets and duvet, as they had been too impatient to get under the covers, and then both parties were too busy reeling from the effects of the strange position they had to maintain in the twin bed, with Dom’s feet balanced precariously on the edges of the mattress, legs parted almost to the point of pain, while Billy held him up and pounded into him for all he was worth, until both were sated and terribly sore.

When he came, Billy grimaced like it was painful to him, and the beads of sweat fell onto Dom’s clavicle and made him shiver and release right after him. And when they dozed that night Dom was filled with some unfounded nervous energy, so he drew nameless patterns on Billy’s shoulder, until the drowsy man mumbled, “Stop Dommie,” and then pulled Dom’s hands up to his lips and kissed each finger softly. Dom knew that by the time Billy got to his last finger, he was already asleep.

*

“Dom? Come on mate, let’s get you to bed. I don’t think you got much sleep again last night huh?

Orlando pulled him up off the couch, where he had been lounging on Orlando’s lap, watching the telly and polishing off a pizza. He felt numb from head to toe.

“Poor Dommie.” Hans, clucked, and as Dom stumbled into the inky darkness of his room, he found he couldn’t agree more.

Poor Dommie.


	5. Friday

Friday

 

6:15 am.

 

“He was asleep now. Yea, he did. Passed out like a baby early last night. He looked like shite I tell you, and he was hardly eating properly. Yep, sleeps late or nothing at all… its sad man, they used to be so happy.”

There was a brief pause, and when Orlando speaks again, Dom can hear a hint of a smile in his voice.

“I hope so, but yeah, you’re probably right. Alright, you go ahead and eat. Call me when he was awake. Cheers, Lijah.”

Dominic wanted to run into the front room and demand to know exactly whom Elijah was going to wake up, but he didn’t. He felt a pang of hurt in his chest knowing Orlando would sneak and call like that, but then again, he probably had to. Perhaps Elijah didn’t want to speak with him. Better still, perhaps Elijah was with Billy, and he in turn didn’t want to speak to Dommie. The implications stung, but he didn’t dwell on it long, instead he pulled himself out of bed, and goes to piss.

6:23

Orlando was on his bed when he returned, sprawled on his belly, and flipping through the pages of Dominic’s yellow notepad.

“You haven’t written anything in months.”

“Haven’t had much inspiration.”

Dominic rubbed a tired had over his eyes, and joined his friend on the bed. Orlando scooted over to accommodate him, allowing Dom to tuck his head near his belly comfortably.

“You’re warm. And you smell like soap.”

“Is that a bad thing, Sblomie?”

Dominic inhaled deeply, and shook his head no.

“I miss his smell. Hell, I miss everything about him.”

Dominic didn’t know when, or why, but the tears came back again. Orlando brushed them gently away with his thumbs.

“I’m sure he’s in just as bad a state as you are, Dom.”

Dom knew Orlando wouldn’t tell him what he wants to hear, that’s not his style. He wouldn’t tell him that Billy’s halfway on his way over to Dom, because he wasn’t sure that’s true.

“It doesn’t do either of us any good if he’s over there, miserable, if he doesn’t do anything about it. And I can’t go to him, Orlando, I just can’t. I’ve already compromised what scant dignity I had left when I sent that sodding letter. He has to come to me this time after all, he left me.”

“From what I’ve heard happened, and what I saw of you that next morning, I’m surprised you’d even take him back, Dominic.”

He was more than just a bit surprised at Orlando’s admission. It wasn’t like him to take sides; yet, it seemed to Dom that was what he was doing. Still, it wasn’t all Billy’s fault, they both fucked up along the way.

“He wasn’t the only one to blame, Orlando. We both made our mistakes, and more often than not, I’d be the one to, er, initiate things. He just never could say no.”

“He didn’t have to say yes either. No one put a gun to his dick.”

Dominic shook his head and smiled ruefully.

“It wasn’t about the sex, well, not just about the sex. He loved me, in his own fashion, and when we were near each other, it was impossible for him not to show it. It was like he had to make up for lost time, and we both would soon get sick of trying to deny it.”

That was the understatement of the century. Even after Mexico, when Billy had truly shattered his heart into a thousand shards of sadness, Dom took him back and Billy visited him in Los Angeles. They couldn’t help it. They tried the buddy system for a spell, and at first, for the first three days, it worked. They fell into an easy banter with each other, and when Billy told Dom he was happy to see him dating someone, there was truth in his eyes. Dominic knew it wasn’t just because Billy felt like shite for going out and finding a girlfriend of his own.

What sent it all on a flaming ball to hell was going out to the pub. Melissa kept asking Billy to tell her of their misadventures in New Zealand in the pubs, eager to relieve the infamous antics they used to find themselves caught up in, and both Dominic and Billy relaxed and it soon felt like they were still _in_ New Zealand.

“Well, one cannot forget the night he called me up, crying, because he was stuck with a drunk naked Elijah. Poor sod had gone out and downed far too many shots, and Elijah then demanded to go to the store.”

“Oh, no “, she giggled and took a sip of her fruity cocktail. Her hair bobbed prettily when she shook her head, and her pale green eyes shone. Her eyes were the first thing about her that caught his attention, he really liked them.

But they weren’t like Billy’s.

Billy joined in her giggling, nodded. Whenever he had that silly grin on his face, Dom was always reminded of Pippin.

“Ya, ya he did. An then, when the lil bugger got in the store, he staggered his drunk arse in the middle of tha aisle and declared, “I want porn and chocolate!” Just like that!”

This elicited a chuckle from Dom, and Melissa was positively breathless with laughter.

“So then I took his sorry arse to my place, and plopped him on the couch. I went to shower, gave him full reign of the VCR for the porn, and when I came back-“

“When he came back, he found Elijah spent on his couch, too drunk to get a proper wank, with chocolate smear all over his face. He called me up mortified, whining about his new couch, and all the suspicious stains that were on it now.”

“Oh ewwwww.”

“Ya, that’s Elijah, he was the ideal houseguest.”

“Remind me to never allow him to spend the night.”

She wrinkled her button nose, and softly excused herself to use the restroom. Billy’s gaze followed her until she was out of sight, before he turned to face Dom.

“She’s nice.”

“I think so.”

“She is.”

Dominic grunted, and leaned over the table to reach for the beer nuts. His arm wasn’t quite long enough, and he missed, and his hands landed on Billy instead. He knew he swallowed hard, his brain getting fuzzy from the zings that were shooting from his fingertips to his groin. When he looked up apologetically at Billy, he found his fucking eyes were smoldering. Smoldering! They went all liquid green, and dark, and his body suddenly had waves of heat pouring off of him.

“Bills…”

“Dominic…”

Before either could continue, Melissa reappeared.

“Dom, I’ve got to go, I just got a call from my sister. She was gone into labor.”

Dom scrambled to his feet nervously, and helped her into her coat.

“Oh, ah, ok, you want me to go with you?”

“No, no, it’s ok, your friend is in town. She’s just having a baby, its not brain surgery.”

Dominic smiled at her warmly, and turned to Billy.

“You wanna head out too? I think we’ve had enough, no?”

“Sure thing, Dom.”

Moments later, Dom was helping Melissa into her car, and thirty minutes later, they were arriving at Billy’s hotel, under the pretense that Dom was just going to walk Bill to his room.

They managed to wait until the elevator doors closed before they were wrapped around each other, kissing as if their very lives depended on it.

“Billy-“

“Dominic”, he kissed his chin, and those damned nimble hands snaked their way into his shirt with hardly any difficulty.

“I know we said we weren’t going to do this...”

Buttons were popping open, yielding to the slightest touch, as if they knew, resistance was futile. Dominic let out a moan, when cool fingers found and scraped his nipples.

“But I just couldn’t, I couldn’t…”

“I know Billy, I know.” He whispered against his lips, and before either could continue, the elevator door flew open with a soft “ding”.

Dominic pulled his jacket around him, and Billy all but drug him down the hallway to his room. It took Billy three times to get the keycard to work, and on the second time, both laughed softly.

“Nervous Billy?”

“I feel like I’m a virgin again,” he giggled, but then his face turned serious.

The mood changed once they were inside the room. They didn’t bother to turn on lights, but they somehow managed to stumble along the foyer, into the bedroom, where clothes were taken off slowly, and tenderly. Billy kissed each patch of skin that was exposed, and murmured soft words on his skin, with a sigh.

What truly broke Dom’s heart was what Billy said as they made love. If he closed his eyes, he could still see his face, which was only slightly visible in the room. His skin was blue from the streetlight lit curtains, and he looked at Dom so hard, it was as if he was tearing him apart, and devouring him right then and there. When he moved inside Dom, he whimpered, and buried his face in the crook of Dom’s neck and whispered, “So good, I- I just couldn’t…” and other nonsensical musings.

At length, he picked up his pace, and his cries became more frantic. He pulled Dom’s legs up higher around his waist, his hips pumping for dear life, and Dom cried out, which in turn drove Billy on. When Dom was close to falling apart, he could feel the icy coil in his lower belly, Billy propped himself on his elbows, and pulled Dom’s gaze to his own. When Dom realized Billy had tears in his eyes, his throat constricted. He’d never seen Billy cry for him.

“I’m sorry Dom. Sorry I couldn’t be the man you need me to be…”

Dom held up a quaky hand to shush him, but Billy continued, his body rocking still, and the rustle of sheets and bed so loud in the still room, that Dom almost didn’t hear him,

“I love you Dominic, but I don’t have it in me. I can’t be with you like you deserve- and I’m sorry.”

He kissed Dom’s shoulder, and Dom could feel the hot tears slide down.

“Don’t think this isn’t killing me, Dom, because it is. My life is a lie, and sometimes,” he set his jaw, no doubt to stave off the impending orgasm, or perhaps a sob, “sometimes, I look in the mirror, and I can hear your voice, asking me if I’m happy. Demanding to know what I’m doing with myself. But this is how it has to be, Dommie, neither are in the same emotional space we need to be to be together. I have to make do with the life I’ve made back in Scotland, and you should do the same. Go back to your girlfriend Dominic, and try to move on.”

Hot anger licked the back of Dominic’s neck, and he lifted his hips to match Billy’s pace. How could he say these things to him, while Dominic could still feel him alive and hot inside him? How dare he suggest they could be wrong for each other, while shedding _tears_ for the love they were losing?

“Like you did? You want me to find some bird to make the pain go away?”

“Yes,“ he whispered with a whimper against Dominic’s throat.

Dominic growled.

“Do you love her Billy,” he wrapped his hands around Billy’s arms and clung, “like you love me,” he wrapped his legs around his waist tighter; still, until he could feel Bill’s hipbones dig into his thighs, “have you cried for her ever?”

He punctuated his last question with a vicious thrust and Bill cried out.

“Yes, no, I haven’t…”

Dominic snarled, “does she know your fucking _soul_ like I do? Can she finish your sentences yet? Does she put an ice cube in your tea in the morning like you like?”

Sweat was dripping from Billy’s face, and Dom could feel his nails dig into the his flesh angrily.

“Dom…”

Their pace was dizzying, and Dom knew that in the morning, hell, for days thereafter, he would be sore beyond reason, but he didn’t care. He wanted Billy to know this to feel this, to hear the words he’d been keeping in for so long.

“Do you miss her when you’re away from her? Do you wake up smelling her perfume, even though she hadn’t been around you in days?”

Billy groaned in response, and pulled himself up to look at Dom. His tears were flowing freely now, and Dom was a bit startled by the harsh bitter tone of voice when he snapped, “No, Dom, only with you, you know that. I miss you when I’m in the same room with you.”

Dom bit his lip, and clamped his eyes shut, but the tears came anyway, as he came all over his belly and between them.

He sobbed into Bill’s hair, and petted him sloppily, his voice hoarse from the tears, and his breath coming out in pants. “Did she break you open like I do Bill? Do you fall apart for her like you do for me? When you’re with her can you feel it in your _bones_?”

“No,” he whispered, and then inhaled sharply, and Dom felt his warm seed fill him, “only you Dom, ever.”

They remained there, hot and sticky, for several moments, and when Billy tried to move away to clean them, Dom didn’t allow it. He wanted to feel the weight of him for a moment longer, even if it meant they would be uncomfortable in the morning.

Eventually, Billy fell asleep, he always did right after sex, and Dominic stayed up until dawn, listening to the man’s soft breathing, and smiling sadly at his sleep talk. Eventually sleep came to him, and when he woke up, Billy was gone, the room was neat, and there was a pot of tea and biscuits on the side table.

He got out of bed in a flurry, his heart in his throat, and fat tears in his eyes, as he digested the possibility that Bill had left him, but he soon found the man’s luggage and a few items of clothing in the front room, so he reasoned Bill had simply went down stairs.

Billy answered his question by walking in the door, bearing a newspaper and his mobile phone. Judging by the expression on his face, he was talking to Elijah.

“Ok Elijah, let me get in touch with Dom, and I’ll call you back…I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, but if you want to meet up at 2, I’ve got to hurry up and get in touch with him…He was probably not up yet Elijah, or maybe he was with his girlfriend…Alright, I’ll call you, cheers.”

Any questions Dom might have had as to how they were going to cope with the previous night were answered, and to be honest, he was more that a bit shocked by how much it hurt. Well, that was being mild. He felt like Bill had taken an ice pick and jabbed it into his belly then let his intestines roll onto the floor.

He ran a hand through his hair casually, and forced a smile.

“Morning.”

“Morning, you just wake up?”

“Yea.”

Billy surveyed him for a moment, then opened his mouth to say something, which, if Dominic knew Billy, was going to be a sad, gentle let down about last night. Dominic cut him off.

“You made plans with Elijah? What’s on the agenda? It won’t take me long to get dressed.”

Only someone who really knew Billy (like Dom), would have recognized the relief that shone in his eyes when Dom changed the subject.

“He wants us to go surfing. You feel up for it?”

He asked this as casually as one who had spent the better part of last night fucking you in the ass could.

“Sure, besides, I usually end up on my arse anyway. It’ll be fun to watch you guys. I haven’t seen you at it in months.”

Not since Mexico, but neither mentioned _that_ trip.

 

The quick shower turned into a long, hot, sore task for Dom, but somehow they managed to meet up with Elijah and Astin, and the quartet found the beach was pleasantly bare for California. Then again, it was midweek, and midday.

“Isn’t that Billy’s shirt?”

Billy looked down at Elijah, and the corners of his lips curled around the bottle of water he was drinking. Dominic made a show of avoiding his eyes, as he shrugged casually, and nodded.

“I spilled coffee on mine when I picked him up. He let me borrow it.”

He was more than just a bit salty with Elijah for bringing it up in the first place, how could he talk when he spent every waking moment loving a married man, and the glare he gave him conveyed that message.

He didn’t want nor ask for Elijah’s concern or approval.

“Oh, well, it was a cool shirt. That’s why I was asking.”

The hobbits spent the rest of the afternoon in silence.

That night they slept together, in the same bed that was. Neither spoke about it, it was just decided by a furtive glance and the rustle of clothes being changed. They curled around each other, Billy on Dom’s chest, as he preferred to sleep on his stomach anyway, and without word, fell asleep.

It was the best rest Dominic ever had in his life.

When Dom woke the next morning, there was once again tea and biscuits on the side table, as there had been the morning before. Yet Dom knew, as soon as he woke up this time, that Billy was gone. Sure enough, when he stumbled out of bed and into the living room, there was no suitcase, no jacket, nothing to suggest Billy was still there. In fact, Dom knew Billy was out of the country. His flight was at 8 am, and it was already after 10:30. He went to shower, still aching from the day before yesterday, and he vividly remembers crying until he lost his voice and the water ran cold.

Billy never called, and Dominic couldn’t bring himself to call either.

*  
5:31 p.m.

“Dom?”

“Yeah mate?”

“Did you hear a word I just said?”

“No.”

“I said Elijah’s in London. He went to see Billy.”

Dominic turned to face Orlando and plopped himself on the couch.

“So.”

“So, he went to see Billy.”

Orlando sighed at Dom’s blank expression.

“And?”

“He got drunk. Threw up all over the bar, and Elijah had to drag his arse home.”

This, was not what Dominic expected to hear, and it caught him off guard. He laughed for the first time in weeks.

“Thought that might amuse you.”

“It did.”

“You wanna go out for some fresh air? I feel like we’ve been moping in this room for days, though I swore I was going to get us out.”

Dominic studied him for a moment, realizing Orlando was going to be leaving in tomorrow afternoon, and then nodded.

“Yeah, let’s go have a pint.”

“Brilliant! Let me get my coat.”


	6. Saturday

Part Six: Saturday

Wellington, New Zealand. 2003

This is it, Dom. The end of the road.”

Dominic nodded nervously to Elijah, and put on his dark sunglasses. They were more to hide the shadows under his eyes than for fashion. He hadn’t been sleeping too well, not since he last saw Billy. The very thought that he would have to see him now, in…he checked his watch, 35 minutes, made his stomach flop dangerously.

They had scarcely spoken since they last saw each other.

“I’m ready, let’s go, Elijah.”

He picked up his jacket, and motioned to leave, but Elijah caught him by the wrist.

“Try to have fun, ok?”

He looked up at him, eyes blazing with empathy, and Dominic nodded solemnly. He knew Elijah, of all people, would understand. His current situation was as bleak as Dom’s.

“You too, Doodle. Remember, he might be with her-“

“It doesn’t matter, Dom. He’s doing the right thing, he has a family.”

Elijah licked his lips quickly, and the two walked out the door.

*

“Mr. Monaghan, your car is this way, now we’re going to be heading east on…”

Dominic was truly, only paying half attention to the event coordinator, as he was too busy watching Billy speak in hushed tones to Viggo. Viggo was bent down low and was replying in earnest, but Dom could only hear every third word at best.

“…It doesn’t matter Bill, if you’re not true to yourself, then it’s as bad as….”

Dominic frowned, and slipped his hands in his pockets. His palms were suddenly very sweaty. To his surprise he found a lolly stashed in there, as well as a few sticks of gum.

_Probably Elijah’s doing, so that I won’t have the urge to light up._

He must have been pretty distracted because he didn’t hear Billy approach him until he was knee deep in his personal space.

“Hi.”

“Hi Bills.”

“You ready to go?”

“Yea.”

*

The energy and love from the crowd was tangible, and it wasn’t exactly hard for Dom to look jubilant and refreshed for the camera. Yes, he was a bit wrinkled around the edges perhaps, but all in all, he was feeding off the energy from the people and their screams of “We love you!”

It wasn’t until they approached the theatre that Dom started to squirm. Billy had been as warm as an ice burg the entire route down, choosing to smile and wave and gesture at everyone but the man he was sitting next to. But his body language was less subtle. His hips, and the top of this thighs just touched Dom’s and the contact of the fine material against Dom’s leg burned more than the Kiwi summer sun. Confetti and streamers fell down and settled around them, and when they reached a shady patch of street, Billy turned to him for a brief moment, and with an unreadable gaze, motioned to pluck a piece of the confetti from Dom’s hair.

Dom reacted before his fingers could touch his scalp, and shook his head out, watching the blue paper float down onto the car seat.

“Dom-“

“They are calling for you, Bill, over there, look.”

Billy turned, and with his trademark raised eyebrows, waved a hand and smiled. Dom knew it would make for a nice picture. Billy looked far more refreshed than Dom.

“Dom, I wanted to talk.”

“Right now? I hardly think we could say what we need to say to one another in front of 100,000 people plus the millions who will watch this via the press. You were never one for gesture’s _that_ grand.”

Dominic cast him a sidelong look, and popped his neck. His back hurt from riding the back of the convertible, and his arms were sore from his last gym session.

“No Dom, later, I want to talk later. About us.”

“There is no “us”.”

Billy opened his mouth to reply, but shut it.

“Though not for lack of wanting, right Bill?”

Neither got to address this because the car stopped, and then they where walking the red carpet.

Life on the red carpet was always a blur for Dominic. He rarely remembered any of it, just a haze of screams, a few autographs maybe, and some hasty commentary to a reporter or four, and then he could retreat to the shadow of the theatre, and watched the finished product born from the crew’s blood sweat and tears.

Dominic sat next to Elijah in the theatre.

He almost couldn’t bear to watch it. From an artistic point of view, it was stunning, and tugged at all his emotional heartstrings. But it was more than that. With every scene he remembered the back story behind it. He remembered the day Merry separated from Pippin, how Dom and Billy had to separate, and Dom sent Billy a letter every day, re-telling everything he had done that day, and recalling how much he missed him for no less than half of the body of the letter. Billy would then call him up, laughing, and call Dom a sappy sod that needed to learn how to use the phone.

When he saw the transformation of Frodo, he remembered watching Elijah suffer silently, feeling torn and wretched over his feelings for Sean, and the guilt he felt over every glance, every kiss, and for feeling that way in the first place. He remembered the days Elijah could not take it and would come over Dom’s house, and whisper to him just how much he felt like a monster, to see Christine and the baby, who loved him, and feel the joy of their company and the twisting in his stomach because he wished they didn’t exist in the first place.

He saw the others give their hallmark performances. He saw Sean’s Sam follow Frodo into the very mouth of hell,then succumb to exhaustion and die, just as he gave into the flaming end of their bliss, succumbing to his sense of responsibility and cast Elijah off, only to miss him like he would miss an arm.

When the audience applauded the closing credits, he sat, numb, listening to the collective sniffles and sighs as bodies began to move, fine fabric swished softly, and dressy shoes crunched on thick carpet.

“You alright Dom?”

Dom looked up at Elijah, who was extending a hand, full of nails bit to the quick, and smiled.

“I will be.”

*

They didn’t want to stay at the after party. Dom felt claustrophobic and fey, and he couldn’t take people coming up to him asking him where Billy was. It was bad enough an internet news source had mislabeled a picture of Billy with his name. To add insult to injury, Billy had avoided him like the plague, not even a side-way glance, since they had arrived.

He wondered briefly if Bill was pissed that he didn’t sit next to him. He didn’t bother to dwell on it.

Elijah, in turn, was galloping towards a state of sloppiness, as he had made friends with the bartender and was drinking himself under the table. He kept glancing at Sean and Christine, watching them smile, and dance, and muttering under his breath that ignorance truly was bliss.

When he started to get wobbly and his trademark giggle could be heard above the chatter and music of the festivities, Sean gently pulled himself from Christine to collect him. She said something softly to him, before gathering her purse to leave. She looked just as concerned as Sean did. Dominic leaned against the bar, nursing his beer, and watched, silently vowing to intervene if Elijah tried to make a scene. Little did he know just what Elijah had in mind.

“Sean Astin, Sam! He’s come to take care of his Frodo! That’s a good Sam.”

He said this in his Frodo accent, and caressed Sean’s cheek lovingly with his free hand.

“Elijah-“

“But Sam can’t be everywhere,now, can he? He has his Rosie, and little Eleanor to look after, so Frodo will have to shove off.”

He was still petting Sean, who was growing increasingly agitated by the few curious glances people were giving them. He pulled his glass up to his lips, and Sean placed a large hand over it.

“Don’t.”

The tone of his voice would brook no argument from anyone other than Elijah. The younger man narrowed his eyes, and pulled away roughly, spilling a bit of the alcohol on the floor and the sleeve of his suit.

“Go upstairs Elijah, and rest. I think you’ve-“

“I think you need to mind your (own) fucking business.”

Dominic sighed, and placed his beer down. Yep, time to collect Doodle. To his surprise, Billy followed suit. Yea, leave it to hobbits to band together when one was in need. But what to do when two were at odds?

“Doodle,” Dom wrapped an arm around him comfortingly and continued,”let’s go upstairs and finish this ya? It’s too many people down here.”

Elijah looked up at him, his eyes softened from the cold blue they just were, and he contemplated Dom’s suggestion. He was just about to concede quietly, when Billy decided to contribute.

“That’s right, and we’ll even get you porn and chocolate so you can eat and wank to you’re heart’s content.”

Dominic knew any other time, this bit of humor would have went over well, but all three men knew the moment Elijah’s jaw stiffened, that Bill had said the wrong thing.

“Not before I do this,” Elijah murmured, and then pressed soft lips onto Dom’s.

The sensation took him back a bit. Sure, he’d kissed Elijah before while playing or even serious, in a platonic way, but this was different. Dom held his hands up at first, to show sign of surprise, but then Elijah was on him, and all around him limbs clinging and caressing him urgently. Dom found himself responding back, though he’d be lying if he said it was for Elijah. No, he knew, that what really made him kiss Elijah back, was the look in Billy’s eyes, when Elijah wrapped his arms around Dom’s neck, and pulled him closer with a soft whimper.

The minute Dom kissed back, Billy turned and left. Sean followed suit. Elijah pulled away just as soon as Sean was out of eyesight.

“Elijah-“

“Dom, I’m sorry I-“

His eyes widened, and he ran a hand over his head.

Dom just shook his head sadly, his gaze still fixed on the exit, and replied, “I know why Elijah, come on, we should go-“

“Yea, I know...”

They mustered as much dignity they could, pointedly avoiding eye contact with those that knew them best, such as Orlando and Viggo, then slipped out of the party and upstairs to their rooms. They decided to take Elijah to his room first, and get some clothes off of him, as Elijah had began to moan about the state of his stomach and the heat.

Dom didn’t need the man to puke on his shoes on top of everything else.

Sean was waiting for them when they got there.

“We need to talk about your behavior.”

Sean crossed his arms and looked down at Elijah with a dark glittering malice.

“What are you, my fucking publicist?”

“Elijah, ” He ran a tired hand over his face. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself. It’s not going to bring me back. I’ve made my decision, and I’m going to stand by it.”

Dominic was pretty sure he heard Elijah’s heart shatter in a thousand pieces right there.

Elijah just waved him off, and pulled at his tie and vest angrily.

“Dom,” Sean turned to face him, and Dom motioned to interrupt, but before either could finish, Billy stalked into the room angrily.

“I was going to talk to you tonight, Dom, to try to come to some sort of terms of agreement, but I see you’re occupied.”

Dominic went from zero to pissed immediately.

“Sod off Billy, where do you get off giving a shit about who I snog? You forfeited that right when you left me.”

Sean and Elijah had mysteriously disappeared, but for all Dom knew they could have been right behind him and he wouldn’t have noticed.

“Oh aye, that’s right, this is all my fault. Because, you know, I forced you fuck me!”

His voice was hitting louder and louder octaves, and his face was getting decidedly red.

“Fuck you? You fucked _me_ remember? You’ve been fucking me since we left this sodding country, one way or the other. You’re a fucking hypocrite, Billy, and a liar, and I don’t even know you anymore.”

“How can you know me, when you’re sticking your tongue down baby boy’s throat? I surprised you even miss me, what with all the shags I bet you’ve collected since I left. Do you even remember their names?”

“Oh, so what? Just because you can remember the name of your forget-Dom-fuck, that makes it ok?”

“Leave her out of this, you don’t even deserve to bring her up!”

“Why? Because you can’t mention my name in polite circles? Do they even know, Billy? Have you come out of the closet yet? Does she who must not be named know that while she was home socializing with your Scottish friends, you were here, socializing with my mouth on your dick?”

Billy snatched Dom up by the collar, and growled.

“Hit me Billy, go ahead and hit me! You can’t hurt me any more than you already have.”

“I would, but you’d probably get off on it. You always liked it rough.”

Dom’s lips curled into a sneer matching Billy’s.

“Fuck you Billy-“

Billy let go of him roughly, and shook his head.

“No, fuck you! Fuck you and your dick driven brain. Fuck your lack of understanding and naivitè! You think it’s easy to live like I do? To have to deny parts of myself because my livelihood and social status depend on it? You never even _tried_ to understand, all you could think about was how you were hurt because I couldn’t pet you in public. Because I didn’t shout our love from the rooftops for the whole world to see. Well you know what? I did that to protect you just as much as I did it to protect me, and you’re too daft to see it.” He ended this with a break in his voice that warned of the tears that started to flow down his red face. Dominic shut his eyes, and inhaled sharply when his own tears fell.

 _I deserve to have you shout our love from the rooftop!_ He set his jaw, to keep the words bottled inside.

“I might be daft, and I might be a whore in your eyes, Billy, but you’ll not have me again until you’ve got the balls to admit to people that we’re together. I’m not going to be your shadow lover. And I’m afraid I can’t be your friend…”

Billy’s shoulders slumped, and the color drained from his face. He licked his lips and took a shuddering breath.

“Goodbye, Dominic.”

The hotel room door snicked shut before Dom could answer. He stood in the middle of the floor for several moments, before Elijah materialized and without word, gently sat him on the bed, and held him, though his own heart was breaking.

That night Dominic slept alone, and it occurred to him that he might want to get used to the concept in terms of forever. The realization hurt more than the silence.

*

11:20 am

“I had no idea, mate.”

Orlando looks up from his plate tiredly, and sighs.

“Elijah was a true friend that night, and now I’ve gone and lashed out at him. I owe him a big apology.”

Dom wipes at his face, angrily brushing off the tears that had fallen as he re-told his painful separation from Billy at the premiere. Hans had wisely suggested going to the pub the pair had visited earlier that week, and in the familiar comfort of smoke, noise and rock and roll, Dom _had_ relaxed enough to bring up the premiere.

“So, you endured the rest of the tour, hurting and being at odds with Billy? I saw the pictures, you two had to talk to one another.”

Dom nods grimly, and pops a chip in his mouth.

“Sure, we were familiar with how to fool the public. You guys knew we were out of sorts with each other, but it would have been bad press for it to have been obvious to _everyone_. Still, PJ noticed the friction, and strongly advised we squash it for the rest of the tour, so we did what we could.”

“Which meant you avoided one another like the plague,” Hans chuckles dryly, and Dom is inclined to agree, a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Don’t knock it before you try it, mate.”

“Oh, I’ve been there, Dommie.”

Dom is suddenly both curious and guilty. Curious to know who he’d been there with, especially in view of his “ladies” he took home, and guilty that he’d been so wrapped up in his own concerns that he never had to opportunity to be the friend to Hans that Hans was to him.

He vows to stop moping a bit, and enjoy the last days with his friends.

2:20

“I have a confession to make.”

Dom towels his hair off, and sits on Orlando’s legs.

“Ow you cunt! You’re gonna break my legs!”

“As fragile as you sissy elves are, I hardly think I’m in any position to break your stick legs.”

Orlando squirms and wedges his knee in the crack of Dom’s ass. Little does he know the dangers of doing this…

“If you get off on this,Dominic, I swear I-“

Dominic chooses that moment to let a particularly loud fart rip.

“Fucking bastard.”

“Among other things.”

Hans laughs so hard he nearly falls from the chair.

Dom pulls himself from the disgruntled Elf’s legs, and with a quick re-position, settles down next to Orli, so they can watch the weather channel again for Hans. He has an outdoor shooting again.

“So,” Dom begins with a playful poke to Orli’s thigh,”what did you have to confess to me? You been shagging Bill on the sly or summat?”

Orlando’s face pales at the mention of Billy, and Dom can’t help but narrow his eyes.

“Orlando…what did you do?”

Hans shifts in his chair uncomfortably, and Dom suddenly thinks Hans knows what the man has been up to. He looks from Hans to Orlando, his eyebrows knitted.

“I told Bill that Hans had given you an ultimatum.”

“You did what?”

“I didn’t mean to pry, but I called him to see how he was doing and it just-“

“Came pouring from his big fat mouth.” Hans replies.

“What did you say, Orlando?”

Orlando looks at the screen for a few moments, then mumbles, “I told him that Hans wanted you to move to New York with him, and that you had to give him an answer. So I suspect you’ll be hearing from him by Monday.”

“You,” he took a breath. “Why did you do this?”

“Billy’s my friend too, Dom.”

Dom looks at him for several moments, before placing a hand on his thigh

“Thanks, mate.”

Orlando responds with a smile full of meaning, then glances at his watch. He must leave soon. The trio pull themselves from the TV, so that Orlando can get ready, and Dom is left praising the wisdom of the elves. He dearly hopes Orlando’s ruse works.


	7. Sunday

Sunday 8:47 a.m.

Part Seven: Sunday 8:47 a.m

Dominic stood with a cup of tea in his hand, staring down at a bustling Park Avenue. It was Sunday, the last day for Billy to come galloping in on his white horse, and, to his utter disappointment, he had heard no word from Billy. Being alone in the hotel room, with its white washed walls and suffocating silence, sparked bitter memories of Los Angeles, and the last time Billy and Dom made love. He sighed at his morose pattern of thinking, and swallowed his his tea with a wince. It was bitter, as the dregs had settled onto the bottom, spilling dark brown swirls into the brew, like blood. He looked down at the street again, his eyes attracted to the bright gleam of the new sunlight hitting a taxi. He more than half hoped he would see Billy tearing out of the taxi, hair mussed and clothes half on, the words, “Hold on Dommie, I’m coming!” clear on his lips. Making a note to stop watching love stories on AMC late night, he commanded himself to pull away from the window.

_A watched pot never boils._

9:15

Room service took much longer than usual, but at least he could enjoy a bit of breakfast with Hans. The German strode into his room, without introduction, and settled at the small table for two. Dom didn’t eat, partly because he found it more entertaining to watch the German gobble down his omelet and slurp juice, and partly because his stomach was twisting viciously, and the very smell of bacon made him tremble. He looked up at Hans for a bit of sympathy, and found none.

Hans wasn’t done eating yet.

10: 15

Dominic didn’t want to choke down the food he ordered, but Hans didn’t give him much choice. When the German was done inhaling his food, he cast Dom what was at first mwastaken for a hungry look, but turned out to be a look of disgust. After a brief quarrel, which evolved around the various groups of people starving in the world, and the lack of merit that could be found in starving yourself over some “Silly wee Scot who could give a shit about whether you eat or no!” Dom was properly chagrined into swallowing some bites, and a few gulps of juice. Then Hans watched him polish off the last of his toast, grunting his approval.

“Good. Now, I am going to shower, I won’t take long, and when I return, we are going to go out.”

He rose from the chair, and placed a big hand on Dom’s shoulder.

“You have had your week to mourn, my friend. Now, it is time to move on. He’s not coming, I’m sad to say.”

Dominic nodded numbly, and forced a brave smile at the man. But inside was another matter all together. Inside, he felt a black hole forming, burning the contents of his stomach, and sucking his very heart southwards, like a vacuum. Three words ring in his head, like the cry of the Valkyrie.

_“He’s not coming.”_

Dom never believed this to be true, until now.

10:24

Dom thought it poetic justice that as he dared to peep at the window down below, a blond man that resembled Billy would be seen darting out of a taxi, shoving people aside. It was only when he pressed his face against the window, mouth agape with a half-smile that he realized the man was at least 6’2, and had much darker hair than Billy. Besides, that man ran up to a red-haired woman, and scooped her up into a charming embrace.

Yep, poetic justice.

Three words still ring in his brain.

_“He’s not coming.”_

10:28

Dom could hear someone stomping down the hallway. Well, at least it _sounded_ like they was stomping, or at least walking funny. He was _almost_ nosy enough to open the door and see if one of the maids was pissed off, but he decided against it, as he was not dressed still, and despite the Hans ambitious plans, he didn’t intend to be dressed until later this afternoon at best.

It was only when he heard the muffled boom of his friend’s voice, that curiosity could not be resisted, and he opened the door.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was interrupting something, I tried to call, but the concierge wouldn’t allow it, I’m sorry.”

Dom was simultaneously overjoyed and amused at the sight of Billy, hands thrown up as if he was dealing with a hungry tiger, backing away from Hans, stammering apologies. He decided to put the Scot out of his mwasery, and correct the obvious mistake the man had made. He thought Dom was in the room _with_ Hans, rather than in a room of his own.

“Billy?”

Billy (who turned tail to run it would seem) stopped in his tracks and sighs.

“Dom, how are you doing?”

Dom puzzled at the man’s behavior, as he still hadn’t turned around, and as if he heard his thoughts, Billy answers him.

He rambled, going on about Dom’s lips, and lightening bolts, and his fear of seeing what Dom looks like after just having shagged Hans.

Dominic was torn between melting along with Billy’s poor heart, and laughing. Bill must be tired, he’s never this poetic unless he was drunk, having sex, or deliriously sleepy.

“Billy, you prat, turn around.”

Bill hesitated for a moment, then swiveled around awkwardly. His eyes, which Dominic forgot was so damn _expressive,_ are heavily lidded (damn sexy), and Dom must focus to tease the man properly.

“Do I look well fucked to you, you stupid tosser?”

Bill dared to look in his eyes for just a moment, and then Dom could hear the wheels turning in his head. After a brief assessment, Billy realized Dom wasn’t rooming with Hans, and hobbles over to Dom, a disarming smile on his face. At least now, Dom knows who was walking funny down the hallway. Billy was knee deep in Dom’s personal space again, and Dom was rattled by the smell of him, (which Dom forgot, like soap, spice, honey, and _Bill_ ). The effect was so strong, that he was immediately reminded of the last time they shagged, and the brief flashes of their lovemaking play before his eyes, and drive all blood supply south of the border.

Apparently brain cells wasn’t high on his blood supply’s totem pole, and he was left to fend for himself.

“You hurt your foot. Come inside.”

Dom winced internally at his stupid dialogue, but was too distracted with his robe, which he was dearly hoping will hide the beginnings of an erection. It was far too late to blame this on morning wood. Billy was now more withdrawn than he was when he half-bounded, half-limped to his room, and Dom was pretty sure the Scot was getting his bearings, and trying to decipher the nature of Hans and Dom’s relationship, and where Billy will fit in all of this. One word, Dom needed just one word that suggested Billy wanted him back, and didn’t come all this way to for a repeat performance of the last time they was in a hotel room together.

His pulse was thick with nervousness, and he decided tea was in order. His mum said things were always much easier to talk about over tea. He retreated to his bedroom to retrieve cups and the leftover hot water from breakfast. Billy’s voice floats into the bedroom, sweet and painful to Dom’s ears. He missed the man’s cheerful lilt. When Billy talked, it was like a Disney movie, and the words danced like cartoon music notes.

“So, you’ve been well, yes?”

Dom shook his head. He wanted to cry, _“No! I’ve been dying without you!”_ but that seemed a bit heavy and melodramatic for this time of day. He settled for something simple and polite.

“Fine thanks, and you?”

“I’ve been well.” Dom winced, hoping Billy was being just as polite as he was. He didn’t like to think that Billy had been well without him. He was halfway done making Billy a cup of tea, two sugars, and one ice cube, so as not to burn him, when he realized he hadn’t even asked Bill if he wanted tea.

“That’s good. Tea?”

“Yes please, tea would be lovely.”

Dom smiled, and then finishes his cup, before returning into the living room laden down with teacups. He felt like a wee Barliman.

Billy was swaying tiredly in the middle of the floor, a strange expression on his face, as he surveyed the room. Perhaps he was looking for evidence of Han’s presence. Bill took a sip of his tea, and Dom gloats internally when the corners of Bill’s lips curl up appreciatively.

The tea was perfect.

“Sit down, Billy, you look like you are about to pass out.”

Bill nodded weakly, and plopped down on the comfy sofa in a way that would have made Orlando squawk indignantly on behalf of his beloved seat.

“Dom..”

“Billy..”

The two smiled at the sound of their names spoken in unison.

Dom motioned with his tea cup for Billy to continue. “You first, you’re the guest.”

Billy shook his head and looked up at Dom with pleading eyes. “No, you. Please.”

Dom hesitated for a moment, but relented with a soft sigh.

“I take it you got the letter then?”

Billy squirmed at Dom’s gaze over the tea cup but nodded the affirmative.

“And what did you think of it?”

Billy gave Dom a lazy smile, his eyes playful.

“I don’t think you was going to ask a question the first time.”

Dom swallowed the irritation that flared in his belly. Now was not the time for Billy to be daft.

“Bill, I need to know.”

His tone was stern, and Dom was briefly reminded of his father’s lectures as a kid. Billy responded angrily.

“You call a yellow sheet of paper with two words written on it a proper letter?”

The sharp pain that seared his chest surprised Dom, and he allowed the anger that flared in his belly to surface a bit. How dare Bill question his motivations, he wasn’t the one who came all this way.

“If it wasn’t good enough for you, then why are you here, Boyd? I don’t fancy you was in the neighborhood.”

A million tiny lines seemed to etch his face, as Bill sat the teacup down with a shaky teather on his temper.

“I wanted to talk about it, Dom. About what it means.”

Dom’s first inclination was to point out the obvious and clue Billy into the song the letter was based on. But then, that would be Dom’s idea. Dom’s rules. Dom’s hopes for the two of them. Perhaps Billy came to reconcile as a friend.

“It means whatever you want it to mean.”

Billy’s eyebrows arched and his entire hairline tilted back in surprise. Dom could hear the anger boiling up to the surface again, and braced for impact.

“Bollocks, Dominic! Whatever I want it to mean? You have no idea what this week had been like for me!”

Dom bit his tongue to stop the cry of “Tell me!” from flying from his lips. He didn’t have to bother. Bill had every intention of filling him in.

“I’ve lost my girlfriend,” Dom’s heart soared and a small voice inside yelps, “Hurrah!” He frowned slightly. He shouldn’t be celebrating.

“Fired my agent, made a drunken spectacle of myself at my favorite pub in Glasgow,” Dom feigned innocence at this admission, though, the visuals he was imagining are quite hilarious.

“Broken my toe because the tire was flat and I was breaking my neck to get to you, to fly thousands of miles to see you and make sense of this damn letter, only to have you tell me it means whatever I want it to mean?”

Shock, and a tiny bud of hope blossomed in Dom’s chest, and in turn, have chased all coherent thoughts from his mind.

_“Breaking my neck to get to you…”_

“And now, I’m here with this sodding piece of paper,” Dom’s throat ran dry at the sound of the Scot’s voice cracking, he wanted to move from the chair and kiss away the pain there, but he couldn’t. He was rooted in his chair. “And you’ve nothing to say to me about it! You could’t offer me any explanation!”

“You have it here with you?” Dom blinked back tears that were itching at the back of his eyes. He had it here, then surely it must be important to him.

“Aye, I’ve it here.” Billy dug in his pocket, and pulled out a pitiful damp shell of the letter Dom sent him. It was as sad and hilarious as Billy looked right now, cradling the paper in his hands as if it was a Tiffany diamond.

“The hell did you do to it?” Dom coughed to cover the laughter that wanted to bubble to the surface.

Billy’s eyes ticked up from his precious, and he graced Dom with a half-smirk.

“Hey, don’t you be teasing this letter. We have spent a lot of time together in the past week, and I’ve grown to love it. Almost as much as I love the man that wrote it.”

“Billy-…”

Dom tilted his head to the side, his vision blurred with the newest onslaught of tears that had surfaced.

“No, you’ll not be interrupting me, as you said this paper means whatever I want it to mean. I’ll tell you what it means to me.”

Dom looked down at his hands, and when he looked up, Billy was in his personal space again, inches from his face.

“This letter means you still love me, Dominic.”

Billy took Dominic’s hand, and Dom found that Billy’s hands were trembling like his own.

“This letter means you fancied give me a week to get my head together ‘cause you know what an idiot I am.”

Billy planted a soft kiss on Dom’s wrist (which elicits a shiver from Dominic) before he continued.

“This letter will be the greatest piece of literature ever written, do you know why?”

“Why?” Dom’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Because I’m going to publish it, so the whole world knows you’re mine, always have been, and always will be, Dominic.”

“Billy.”

Dom wasn’t sure if the name on his lips sounded like a sigh or a benediction. Billy’s eyes stared into his own, pulling Dom into the vortex he longed for, but almost forgot.

“I love you, Dommie. I always have, love wasn’t the problem. You never doubted that, did you?”

 _Yes_.

“No.”

“But Dom, I was scared. I’m still scared. But I think being scared won’t be so bad if I don’t have to be scared alone. That was, if you’ll still have me.”

That, Dom thought, was the silliest question Billy had raised to date. He was reminded of that Yank movie, with Tom Cruise- _“You had me at hello.”_

“You’ve never alone, Billy.”

Billy’s eyes turned dark green, they started smoldering, and Dom knew he was about to be kissed. Somehow, two bodies met, (when did he stand up?) and Dom was pulled into the most exquisite, albeit imperfect kiss (all tongues, and teeth, and unmanly whimpers) ever.

Behind them, their sheet of notebook paper fell gently onto the floor.

11:15

Part of Dom knew they should go slow, talk more, but that part of him was told to politely go sod himself, as soon as Dom felt Billy’s arousal pressed all friendly like into his hip. He clawed at the fly of Billy’s jeans, his breaths coming in quick puffs.

“I’ve missed you so fucking much, Billy.”

“Ungh!”

Dom grinned smugly, and re-aquainted himself with Nesseh. He felt Bill swoon dangerously as he flicked long fingers over the head of his cock, and looked up worriedly. It would do them no good to have Billy faint now.

“I’ve missed you more than you could possibly imagine, Dom.”

Dom was struck at how much that statement hit him, and had to blink back more tears. He was tired of tears.

“And I’m sorry I left in the first place. If you hadn’t given me a chance to redeem myself, I would have lost you forever and you would still be with Hans.”

It took Billy three heartbeats before he remembered Dom was supposed to be with Hans. Dom almost laughed at the play of emotions on the man’s face.

“We were never together, Bills. He’s an old mate of mine who I put up to keep the façade going in case you came to see me.”

“So the picture…”

“Was a damn lie. Didn’t you see how far apart I stood away from him?”

Billy laughed, and Dom shook his head. Silly man.

“Aye, I did, but not until Friday. Or was it Saturday? I canae keep the days straight anymore, with all this flying.”

Poor Billy looked so frazzled, and the sight of him, with his hair all askew, arms moving about, lilt thick and animated, was a source of pure joy for Dom. He laughed, deep into his gut, for the first time what felt like months. Billy squawked at the weight of Dom leaning over him.

“Oi, enough of that then. You’ll be the death of me yet.”

Dom waggled his eyebrows, and pulled him closer, being mindful of his broken toe.

“I won’t be the death of you with all these clothes on. Let’s get you naked, shall we?”

And with that, Dom scooped up an indignant Billy, and carried him over his shoulder and into his bed.

12:15

“Aye, I love you. I love you. Dear God, I’ve missed you. Never leaving you again, Dommie, not ever.”

Dom swelled with pride and arousal (in various places) at the sound of this. Billy’s not making things very easy for poor Dom, who had to grit his teeth and pray he could hold out long enough for Billy to find his release. But Billy felt so hot and so fucking tight (he hadn’t shagged another bloke since Dom, he couldn’t have), that Dom wanted to cry. Billy started making noises that sounded suspiciously like a whimper, and this elicits a hungry growl from Dom, who lifted the man’s leg, the one with the broken toe, and proceeds to pound like a maniac.

Billy rambled about the care Dom took not to injure his toe, and Dom smiled as Billy begged Dom to cut the toe off.

“Nah, keep the toe, Billy. I’ll need it when you heal up, to repay me for my generosity.”

Dom chuckled outright, and kissed Billy lightly on the mouth. Dom’s fingers work Billy’s arousal urgently as icy pressure built at the base of his spine, and flared to the front of his belly, and he knows he will explode soon. So soon. He looked down into Billy’s flushed face, which contorted in a mixture of pleasure and euphoria (and reminded Dom of Pippin for some reason), before the man shut his eyes and wails at the effect of his orgasm.

The sound of Billy’s exclamation, ( _“Christ Dominic!”_ ) sent Dom over the edge with a bone-chilling shudder.

Dom knew two things, as he smashed Billy into the mattress, too boneless and sated to even pull out. One: It was good to be shagging again. Two: He was never letting Billy go again. He decides to relay his last thought to his love.

“Billy?”

“Yes, Dom?”

“I won’t let you leave me again.”

Dom couldn’t be sure, but he thought Billy fell asleep with a stupid smile on his face.


	8. An epilogue of sorts

Part Eight-An Epilogue of Sorts

9:15 a.m.

Dom was pretty sure of two things when he woke up that morning. First, that he would forever be overjoyed to wake up wrapped up around Billy. Second, something was definitely on Billy’s mind. When Dom kissed him sleepily, and *pointedly* made his intentions known, Billy’s eyes flittered to the nightstand, and he cleared his throat.

"Have to pee." he, mumbled, and then stumbled (bare arsed) into the restroom.

Dom wouldn’t have given it a second thought, except, after a few moments, Dom heard no telltale stream of pee hitting the bowl, and he was sure Billy didn't not sit down when he peed. So he got up.

"You alright in there, Bills?" He knocked softly, and Billy let out a strange noise, like a cross between a groan and something akin to "meep" and then stammered some excuse in his brogue, which was so thick that Dom was immediately suspicious.

Billy’s accent only got thicker when he was agitated, drunk, or getting fucked. And since he ruled two of the three culprits out, he immediately wanted to know who, or what, had upset him.

"Bill, I’m coming in…"

"No! No. I’m fine, really!"

"Bills-"

But Dom never got to pester him. Billy emerged, dressed, and Elijah chose that exact moment to knock on the door, and then their living room was full of Elijah, Hans, a Playstation 2 pilfered from somewhere, ("Trust me Dominic, you don’t want to know how he got this." was all Hans said on the matter) and a disgruntled Billy.

Billy said he was "fine" but Dom wasn’t buying it. Nope. He was disgruntled, Dom could tell by the set of his shoulders, and the shade of his eyes.

They was mean green. If he started saying "Ehm" Dom was going to kick the guys out.  
Dom had great sex the last time Billy said "Ehm."

"Dommie, I think our guests would like some tea."

Both Hans and Elijah tore their eyes from their racing game, and shook their heads politely.

"I don’t want any, thanks Bill."

"Nope. I prefer coffee in the morning most days, William."

Dom wasn’t sure, but he thought Billy’s eyeball, the left one, just popped out like the instructor from the MTV show, "Daria."

"Well, I want some tea."

Dom nodded, and turned back to the game. Elijah had opened up a new level, and Dom wanted to see how to pass it.

"Ok, could you bring me a cup too, Bill?"

There was a pregnant pause, before Billy sighed irritably.

"I was hoping you could get it for me, Dom."

Dom frowned[. "Why? Have you suddenly lost the use of your…”

Billy glared at Elijah’s giggle, but the kid didn’t have the sense to be chagrined.

"Oh, sorry Bills. I’ll get it for you."

Dom rose from his chair, rumpled Billy’s hair, and padded into the room. He knew it would take a few moments for the water to heat in the pot, so he used that time to pick up various pieces of clothes that were strewn across the floor, smiling at the (several) wadded up condom wrappers that are littered like confetti. He stepped into the bathroom, and brushed his teeth, clucking softly at the mess of clothes the bathroom.

Billy claimed he was "tidying up a bit" when he lingered in the bedroom when the guys first arrived, but now Dom seriously doubted the truth in that statement. If anything, it looked like Billy made even more of a mess. Dom picked up Billy’s jacket, and smiling softly, inhales at the neck.

The tang of sweat and street were ripe on the fabric, and he pulled a face and grins.

_Dirty bastard._

He stepped out of the bathroom, intent on finding the dry cleaning bag that was folded in a drawer in the nightstand, but was distracted by the sizzle of the coffee maker. It would seem the water was hot, and the few droplets of water that had spilled onto the base were boiling off.

He plucked up the two mugs, loaded them with tea bags, and filled them with water. Billy liked his tea stronger than Dom’s so Dom let the bag settle onto the bottom, while he impatiently snatched his cup up, and dipping the bag up and down, returned to the nightstand for the dry cleaning bag. He sat his cup down on the stand absentmindedly, but then realized he had set it on a paper, which was folded in half, and he recognized Billy’s loopy "Dom" written across the top. He plucked it up with a grin, and unfolded it, mug still in hand. He squinted, eyes still a bit sleep groggy, to make out the large scrawl across the top.

_Marry_

Dom’s throat closed up, and his mug decides to leap, face first, for his lap, spilling pale brown all over the yellow notebook paper.

"Shite!"

He swiped the mess of with his fingers, eyes sending a frantic message to the brain, to process the next word.

_Me_

The cups hit the floor, and breaks, and though Dom didn’t look at it, he was sure it had broken into a million pieces.

_Merry._

The sound of Dom’s curse and the dull thud of crockery hitting the floor roused someone, and Dom was half aware of Elijah when he comes in.

"You ok, Sblomie?"

Dom folded the (wet, tea stained, and now slightly frayed) notebook paper up gently, and smiled. His eyes rest on scrap of silver metal, as he sees the band for the first time, glinting in the new sun.

"I’m perfect Elijah."  
  
Dom was quite certain that week, and every week thereafter, would be much better than they had been lately, and vowed not to take too long to get up, kiss Billy senseless, and give him his answer.

_"Yes."_  



End file.
